All Outta Luck
by creep-stats3
Summary: Axel lives the dead-end life, but he finds a way out: Modeling. There he meets the gorgeous and quiet Roxas who he can't help but want to get to know. Along with his wardrobe directors and an array of crazy friends, Axel makes his way into modeling.
1. Moping

All Outta Luck

Disclaimer: I don't own any KH characters or any related areas.

AN: This is a response fic to the request I got from Axel in "Another Generic AkuRoku" by Chronoskingdom. I hope she likes this.

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_You ever been down on your luck? I mean WAY down. You're suffering a depression from a constant monotony in the way life just loves to screw you over. That's how low on luck I'm talking. Things just aren't looking up for this cat. My job is low-pay at a run-down chain restaurant that tried to become the next Moxie's and failed miserably. I'm surprised the health inspector hasn't shut the owner down yet; what with all the crap caking the yellowed tiles on the walls and floors around the kitchen. Why don't I work somewhere else? There IS NO WHERE else. I'm living in the middle of no where in a sleepy desert town that almost reaches 40 degrees Celsius during the day and -10 degrees during the night. _

_Who ever you are, you're going to have to put up with my whining. I'm too fed up to keep it all pent up for the sake of everyone else's sanity. _

_I got people telling me what to do, and I HAVE to do it. I don't have a choice 'cuz it's my job. People tell me to fly, and I freakin fly. I need the money to get out of this forsaken hell hole, but who knows when that's gonna happen. I'm stuck for life, and I freakin' hate it._

_So here I am being a baby and writing for all I'm worth. What else can I do? This is the best I've got. And to who ever reads this, it's your own stupid fault for picking this notebook up._

Axel closed the beat up diary unceremoniously and tossed it across the room where it fell to the floor half open with its pages bending. The young man snorted and rolled himself backwards purposely crashing into the bed causing the desired effect that forced physics to oblige with gravity and force of motion to throw him right onto the bed without him lifting a finger. He lay sprawled out with his face to the old quilt and sighed.

"I want out so bad..."

Axel was 19, single (Only because there was absolutely no one to date in that forsaken town), handsome, and he knew it, was a go getter who always got what he wanted, and was a hard worker, but somehow all these qualities hadn't seemed to be enough to get him the heck out of his predicament.

"Yo, kid! You're needed in the boiler room. Something ain't running down there and we're getting complaints. "

Ah, the hotel manager. Yes, he worked a few jobs for the sake of making as much money as possible. He worked as a bell boy and mechanic for a cheap Bed and Breakfast, where he consequently lived, run by his great, great uncle twice removed or something.

"I'm comin' old man." Axel groaned and got up by first pushing his chest off the bed and slid his lower half off the end until his holey tennis shoes hit the floor. He trudged his way across the creaky wood purposely making noise to blow out some of his frustration.

AN: short and unfinished for now, but it's a good intro. I'll be updating. Thanks for reading.


	2. Opportunity

All Outta Luck

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Kingdom Hearts or related content.

AN:  
To Demyxfan:

Heyas! Thanks for reading. Glad ya like my writing. :D  
As for an account on this site, it's all free. My suggestion would be to obviously keep your real name out of reach from internet stalkers and read all the rules before posting a story. Don't bother reading the page agreement for creating your account. It's the same stuff you'd read while installing MSN. So yeah, go ahead and create your account.  
TTYL!

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Axel trudged along the creaky stained wooden floor with a hand jammed in the pocket of his black sweat pants. He took a quick right and descended a staircase hidden by an old wall with peeling pink striped wallpaper. Stomping as he went, Axel counted all 27 steps before reaching the lobby floor and walked across a small waiting room with two beat up green corduroy half couches and an old rocking chair with a cutesy pink cushion for padding along the back support and the horizontal expanse where the next person would sit. The young man 'tsked' as he went by and ducked under the receptionist's counter continuing through a door that led to a staff room with one computer and a phone sitting on an old wooden table accompanied by a lonely burgundy leather wheelie chair.

Behind this set up stood a door only tall enough for a hobbit to fit through. Axel gave it a kick and it swung open to reveal a dark stairway into the boiler room. He didn't bother clicking the light switch, knowing full well that the bulb had burnt out a year ago and hadn't been replaced. He stomped down these stairs just as he had the others and turned left at the bottom so he was facing the boiler itself.

"You stupid piece of junk..." He muttered and approached the pipe-covered wall where a few valves could be seen not far from each other. He turned one, then another, and adjusted the angle of another and hit the switch off and then on again to reset it. As expected, the room exploded with the sound of rushing water and a loud humming that indicated the water heater was back to working.

Axel clapped the dust off his hands and trudged back up the creaky stairs into the staff room. He emerged to find his uncle at the desk reading the paper. Axel was about to walk past him to head back to his room to wallow in his misery until his uncle spoke.

"Axel, boy," He summoned kindly. "I've found an article that might interest you." He said handing the young man a section of the paper. Axel quirked a brow quizzically and lowered his eyes to the head line.

"**LOOKING FOR MALE MODEL"**

"You've gotta be kidding." Axel snorted and turned to leave.

"You said you wanted easy money; well, here's your chance." His uncle said as he returned the section to where he had found it in the paper.

"A male model?" The boy scoffed, "Ok, for one, it's a ridiculous job for pompous jocks with pretty faces and no brains, and for another it could all be one big scam."

"You're smart enough to recognize whether it is or not. What do you have to lose by trying?" His uncle asked with his chin resting on his palm. His round face sagged at the cheeks and his bushy brows hung low over his hazel eyes. He had a bald spot that traveled down the center of his head leaving wisps of wiry brown hair protruding at his temples.

Axel mulled the question over for a moment in silence. At last he sighed in defeat.  
"Hate to admit it, but you're right."

Axel's uncle smiled triumphantly and tore the article from the page handing it to his nephew. The young man glared at the paper half-heartedly and looked up at his uncle.

"Thanks. I'm gonna get some shut-eye so I can deal with this trauma in the morning."

The old man laughed heartily and bid Axel good night.

The red head dragged his feet as he made his way back to his room and closed the door behind him. He slouched all the way to his bed and fell face-forward onto it bouncing a few times before coming to a state of rest. He dragged his right arm out from under him and re-read the article his uncle had given him.

"A male model, huh?" He smirked. "It may not be rocket science, but it's a way out."

The boy groped for the switch on the wall and flipped it off. The room went dark and Axel lay with his nose on the musty quilt for a few minutes before drifting off to sleep.

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Axel checked the address to see if he'd gotten it right. Yepp, Swarrow st. Number 1512. Axel quirked a brow doubtfully as he looked at the dilapidated building. It was an old studio that had been previously rented out for a barber shop, then a martial arts dojo, and now an auditorium for modeling auditions. It wasn't a pretty building and it looked pretty dead. It wasn't all that surprising, seeing as not many really read the paper in town. It was too remote a place for anyone to care about the outside world. "It has nothing to do with us" was a common mentality. Axel snorted his displeasure at the lack of ambition and thrust the door open to stride into the receiving room and took the stairs ahead of him to the supposed audition room.

The red head poked his head around the corner once he reached the top and scanned the large room. It actually had quite a few people sitting around waiting for the auditions to begin. Now that he thought about it, what exactly did a model audition consist of? He wasn't really worried. He had plenty good looks to impress the judges.

Axel sized up the competition: there were six girls dressed exotically with revealing apparel that barely left anything to the imagination. One girl wore a sleeve of bracelets that appeared to weigh a ton. Her earrings were giant circles about three inches in diameter. Her hair was light brown with her bangs brushed to the left side of her face slightly covering one eye. She was wearing a beige bubble dress and black tights that ended just under the knees. Her shoes were simply fabric with cherry and strawberry designs on them and a slab of plastic as the soles of the shoes. She was slightly tanned and definitely a worthy opponent.

Axel looked around some more to find two guys. One was a punk with multi-colored hair gelled up like a mace. He wore green plaid pants with metal circles hanging off the belt loops and the pockets. Two useless extra pieces of fabric hung from each leg connected by one back pocket and just behind the knees for some kind of aesthetic effect. He wore a simple black tank top that was clearly intended to show off his toned arms. Axel wanted to make some sort of jest at his expense, but he figured making enemies just then wasn't the best idea.

The other guy was chubby with shoulder length black hair that hung over his eyes. He wore baggy jeans and a Metallica T-shirt. What he thought he was doing there was beyond Axel.

The red head noticed a couple of the girls staring in his direction and moved to the wall where he dropped to the floor in the lotus position and rested his chin in his hand supported y his elbow on his knee. He closed his eyes to avoid meeting eyes with any prodding eyes. As he sat there he reflected on what he was wearing: He had dressed stylishly with a black dress shirt that was pin-striped with red. The shirt was red on the inside, and the red silk of his collar contrasted with the shirt nicely. The shirt was long-sleeved with red cuffs that included a sleek black button on each. His pants were simply black dress pants with a read handkerchief strategically peeking out of his right pocket. His hair was in its naturally crazy do which suited the look just fine. If he was honest, Axel felt pretty damn smooth.

Quick steps were heard ascending to the room. Axel cracked open an eye and smirked.

"Let the games begin." He whispered.


	3. Enigma

All Outta Luck

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. Nor do I own any related material.

A/N: My other half gave me great ideas for this chapter. So thank him for all the laughs.

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A tiny woman dressed in black pants and a fitting spaghetti-strapped satin burgundy top that flared out at the bottom hemmed with purple thread ascended into the room. Her hair was long black and sleek tied back in an elegant braid that reached the middle of her back. She wore earrings that reached beyond her shoulders; two round wooden spheres painted in two shades of blue to make a more colourful version of the Yin and Yang sign introduced by Taoism.

She had a well defined jaw and mysterious dark eyes with long thick lashes and silver gray eye shadow that rose high on her lids. Her face was pale and her full red lips contrasted incredibly with the black and white. Her body matched her face in its astonishing perfection; her legs were long and shaped with her feet curved downward in a pair of very expensive looking high heel shoes that would pierce the skin if stepped on by one. Her body was goddess material with a formidable chest size and generous hips.

Axel found himself ogling at her just barely able to keep the drool from dribbling down his chin. The other members in the room were just as awed as he was, but the girls were more jealous than anything.

The goddess strutted to the center of the room not bothering to check if she had everyone's attention and opened a binder she had in her right hand. She slipped out a pen from the coils and held it out towards the audience.

"I'll need you to sign all your names here with a telephone number and an e-mail address to contact you by." Her voice rang out in the silent room. It was purely majestic to hear. Not one male in the room needed to be told twice. On the other hand, the girls moved warily while glaring whole-heartedly at the model before them.

As Axel walked up and took the pen he made eye-contact with the Goddess and smirked casually while signing his name and coolly laid the pen back down and retreated feeling very smooth.

Once all present were signed up, the model closed the binder and laid it aside on a small coffee table set on a spiral shaped base. She looked up with a smug smirk on her lips and pointed to the guy in the Metallica T-shirt with his eyes hidden by his hair.

"Let's see what you've got. Give me a cat-walk."

The poor devil didn't have a clue. He took a step forward slouching miserably looking like some kind of cave-man trying to win a beauty pageant. He stopped and then bounced his way up the middle of the room like he was walking on a trampoline. He stopped dead center and lifted one hand lazily in the "rock on" signal and waited for a verdict.

The model's face was set in stone. There was no way to tell what she was thinking, and she simply requested that cave-man sit down so the next person could come up front. She called up the girl of a million bangles and hoop earrings to show what she had. The tanned girl stepped forward confidently on her platform shoes and strutted up the middle much like the goddess had arrived in the room and did a turn in the middle. She ended with her hands on her hips and a little pout for an element of unnecessary cuteness.

Again the model betrayed no emotion and called another audience member to the front.

A scrawny kid with short and spiky vibrant red hair walked up to the front wearing a button-up dress shirt and beige dress pants. The slight bulk at the chest indicated it was a girl. Her features were incredibly fine making it difficult to tell whether it was a very delicate boy or a fragile girl. Her eyes were an insane green. How had Axel not noticed her before? She must have been hiding behind the rest of the model wannabes.

This girl walked as though she was floating on air and had a far-away expression like she wasn't exactly on earth. Even when she looked at something, she was really looking through it. This somehow spiked Axel's interest. He silently hoped this one would be picked.

The red-headed enigma finished with a polite bow to the audience and resumed her place without having to be asked.

And so the strutting went on like that with girls and guys of unknown origin coming to the front to audition and sit back down without any guess as to what the verdict would be.

Second to last, the punk with the Mohawk was called up to strut his stuff. He stood lazily and stretched all the kinks out of his muscles. He then took long languid strides forward pulling off a pretty awesome walk that didn't look forced or gay. It was a true accomplishment, and was shocking considering how unorthodox he appeared. Here the true meaning of not judging a book by its cover seemed to apply perfectly.

Last, but never least, Axel was called to the front. He smirked at his chance and stood gracefully taking long steps to the starting point of the imaginary cat walk and strode forward with a straight back not looking stiff and walked forward to the center where he did a quick turn in two intervals as he paused a second with his back to the goddess judge and then turning the other 180 degrees to face her smirking the same smirk as earlier. He gave a slight bow and with a nod retreated to his seat.

Here the model stood from her place and applauded lightly.

"Very good all of you. You will be notified tomorrow early in the morning as to whether you've been chosen or not. That will be all for today. Thank you for your participation." With that, the beauty walked forward taking the binder with her and took the stairs to leave. The occupants of the room followed her out leaving Axel and the shocking red-head in the white-button up to file out last in line.

"Hey," Axel greeted with his trademark smirk, "mind if I ask for a name?"

The red head came down from where ever she was and met Axel's eyes in blurred perception. "Whose?" She asked airily.

Axel laughed. "Yours, if you don't mind."

"Oh. Charlie."

Lifting a brow, Axel had to ask, "Isn't that a bit of an odd name for a girl?"

She looked up at him with a dazed look; not quite all there yet. "That's what people tell me, but I like it." With that, she returned to her dream land and continued out the door. She was an odd one alright; real odd.

--

A/N: Here's where I'll leave it for now. :D


	4. Drum Roll Please

All Outta Luck

Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts nor do I own any characters or related matter.

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A loud and obnoxious vibrating sound erupted from Axel's bedside waking him with a jolt. The young man snatched up the cell phone opening it violently.

"Who the hell's calling?!" He demanded hostilely.

A voice on the other end cleared its throat. "I'm Kareena from the modeling audition yesterday." Her voice, again, betrayed no underlying emotion.

Axel felt the blood drain from his face and his voice kicked up a notch.

"Oh."

"Yes, well, I'm calling to inform that you have been chosen as one of the lucky winners."

The words echoed in Axel's mind bouncing off the walls in his head and sinking into his conscious perception.

"I've been chosen?"

"You have."

The cell phone fell to the mattress as the young man flung himself out of bed and pumped his fist in the air triumphantly silently mouthing "yes" with as much gusto as he could muster. His dance lasted a few seconds before he picked up the phone again now composed.

"Hey, that's great to know, so what now?"

"We'll be flying to Los Angeles this Monday."

Axel had to digest her words before answering.

"That's soon." He played it off calmly.

"You have the rest of this week and the week end to pack and get ready. You'll need just the basics that you would take to a sleep-over. The rest will be taken care of."

"Sure thing. Thanks for the heads up and I guess I'll see you Monday. Should I meet you at the airport?"

"If you would be so kind."

"No sweat. I'll be there. What time?"

"We'll need you there at six AM; until then."

And the line went silent.

...

Running footfalls shook the stairs causing a landslide of dust and splinters to fall from under the old wooden stairs of the Inn. They continued through the lounge room where hotel guests looked up inquisitively some with disapproval on their faces. This didn't deter the human typhoon.

The footfalls ended in the kitchen where the objective was found.

"Unc!" Axel exclaimed as he approached the old man sitting at one of the break fast tables watching an old TV playing the news across the room.

"Yes Axel?" The man said as he turned his eyes to the young man.

"Guess who just snatched himself a modeling job?"

The old man's eyes widened and lit up. He stood and hugged his nephew tightly.

"Well, did I not tell you that you could make it?"

"It wasn't really doubt over whether I could get in or not; it was more along the lines of keeping up appearances."  
His uncle rolled his eyes with his shaggy white eyebrows lifting momentarily and landing in place once more.

"But you did say I had nothing to lose; you were wrong there."

His uncle lifted a brow in confusion. "And what, pray tell, might you have to lose?"

Axel motioned for his uncle to take a seat and sat down across from him.

At first he hesitated and then looked up meeting his uncle's curious expression.

"I'm... leaving to L.A. next Monday."

The old man's expression turned from curiosity to comprehension and he smiled his old wise smile that Axel was very fond of.

"My boy, you are of age now that you can choose for yourself where you'll go and how you will live. If you're concerned about me and the Inn, you shouldn't. I may be a geezer, but I'm no push over." He punched Axel playfully in the arm with a wrinkled old fist worn with the years of work and experience.

The young man clutched at his arm melodramatically pretending to flinch. "Hey, I'm gonna need that."

The two laughed together and Axel joined his uncle for breakfast.

"And this guy comes up walking like something out of prehistory only with a Metallica T-shirt in addition to his oversized shoes and I was just waiting for him to walk too far and crash into a wall. I had to wonder whether he had eyes." Axel told the story with wide hand-gestures and emphasis on the key words to make his tale amusing. His uncle laughed duly as he sipped at his coffee.

"It sounds like you had a pretty interesting crowd."

"Sure did, but I was of course the most dashing." The young man said this with his trademark smirk and a straight back for more effect.

His uncle laughed again. "My boy, I doubt it not."

...

The rest of the week was gone before Axel could process the passing of time properly. Before he knew it his uncle was driving him to the airport with not much more than a small suit case on wheels packed with a tooth-brush, Axel's favourite clothes, a comb, hair gel and the usual toiletries.

The car pulled into the parking lot that was jam packed as always. Uncle and nephew climbed out of the car and headed to the main entrance where Axel immediately recognised the brilliant red-headed girl. Today she wore what looked like a small child's white dress with pink pockets in the shape of apples on either side of the fabric covering her thighs. It flared out at the bottom and reached just barely beyond her backside. Under that she wore thick white tights and little black shoes. She looked like a porcelain doll standing with her eyes to the brightening sky; spacey as usual.

"Hey Charlie," Axel greeted once he was within ear shot.

The girl came down from her cloud distractedly until her eyes focused on Axel and suddenly her face lit up with a small smile.

"Hi." She said waving.

Axel and his uncle crossed the busy taxi-clad street to reach Charlie on the other side.

"Charlie, this is my uncle Vernon, and unc, this is Charlie."

Vernon held out a hand and Charlie took it to shake.

"Pleasure to meet you young lady."

"The pleasure is mine."

As Axel looked around he saw more familiar faces, but of them all, the most shocking was cave man.

"Whoa! He got in?" Axel asked Charlie. The girl met his eyes obviously shaken out of her dream-land again.

"The guy whose eyes are hidden."

"Oh... Well, I suppose he must have. He is here after all."

Axel found himself wondering for the umpteenth time what about this tiny creature made him want to growl at anyone who might even look like they wanted to do her harm. It was a weird big-brother feeling. She was so odd, small and fragile that everything about her begged for special attention. Axel was surprised to realize how attached he felt to Charlie after only seeing her twice.

He shook the feeling for a moment to look around for Kareena. She'd have to be there somewhere. He scanned the closest perimeters until he locked on to the goddess with the long braid down her back.

"Ah, and there's our guide."

Kareena turned around on cue and saw Axel. She smiled briefly and approached the group.

"Thank you all for being on time. We will be taking a private plane, so please follow me."

Axel turned to his uncle and gave him a hug good bye. Something inside him wrenched at his heart-strings as he realized how much he'd miss the person who was practically his father.

"I'll write you an e-mail to keep you posted on what I'm up to; the dirty details and all."

Vernon smiled. "I'll be expecting them. And perhaps you could give me a call every so often."

"Yeah, sure thing."

Axel smiled brightly and turned to follow Kareena. He noticed Charlie had waited for him and didn't pick up her bags to follow the group until he did. He felt his chest swell warmly at the gesture.

"A private plane...? I've always wondered what it would be like to fly." Charlie sighed absent-mindedly.

Axel chuckled, "I've wanted to get up in those clouds since I was just a kid, so I know how you feel."

Charlie smiled to the sky no facing the tall young man next to her and nodded.

The group arrived in an open lot with a handsome looking plane parked proudly in the middle facing the run way. It wasn't huge, but it was obviously a better ride than the typical planes used by the airport. The body work was forged into sleek curves and painted with a glittering silver coating. On the side was an emblem that read: **"Clandestine Modeling". **

The stairs up to the entrance were out inviting the passengers to board. At the bottom of these was a blond young man waiting to receive the group. He smiled as Kareena approached and gave a polite bow and she boarded. The young man did this as each passenger climbed the stairs into the private plane. Axel motioned for Charlie to go ahead of him and climbed the stairs after her nodding back to the receiver boy as he passed.

There were no assigned seats, so Axel sat next to Charlie in some luxuriously wide recliner chairs with foot rests included. The pair marvelled at the elegant interior of the plane. The lights reflected off polished hard-wood bar-surfaces and the white-carpeted roll-out carpet that lined the floor. The cabin was spacious with enough seats for the small group. All the seats were set at a twenty-five degree angle towards the middle walk way that had a wide flat-screen TV set in the white wall with two curtains on either side assumingly leading to the pilot deck.

"It's so big..." Charlie said with her usual far-away voice.

Axel had to agree. It was a lot more luxury than he'd seen in his life-time. In all his short nineteen years of life, he'd only seen this kind of luster on TV. He admitted that he could definitely get used to it.

The receiver boy who had been at the bottom of the stairs entered the cabin and proceeded to control a panel that folded the stairs automatically pulling them into some compartment under the door and then the door closed tight.

Kareena walked up to the front and cleared her throat, "Welcome to the Clandestine Modeling agency everyone. You're about to endeavour some of the toughest trials and the most entertaining of challenges. It will be the best of times and the worst of times, but it all depends on your output levels of energy and enthusiasm that will make you go far in this business."

The room applauded lightly and two men came out from behind the curtains dressed in formal outfits.

"These will be your pilots today, Rally and Chendit. They will also be your supervisors and prefects while you're with us. And the one who greeted you is Roxas. He is a young model that has been with us over the last two years and will answer any questions you might have about being a young model."

The young blond smiled and gave a wave before taking his seat next to cave-man.

And then a tall and thin man dressed in a purple suit with short black hair gelled back and side burns growing down from his temples and a slight goatee stepped out from behind the curtain. His eyes were a striking blue that commanded a silent authority. His face was still young as he appeared to be in his mid-thirties. His face was long with prominent cheek bones that gave his face a handsome edge just as much as intimidating. The room was silent with curious admiration at his appearance.

"And this will be your manager, photographer and mentor. This is Farran Laird."

The tall man grinned and gave a small bow.

"A pleasure to be of your acquaintance, all of you," he spoke with a thick Scottish accent, "I'm looking forward to our interactions and expect much from all of you."

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A/N: Quick updates at last. Well, drop me a review to let me know what you think!

Creepstats3


	5. The First day

All Outta Luck

Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any related material. This fic is only for entertainment purposes on ff dot net.

Author's Note: Yeah, ok, it's been six months since my last update... Sorry. Kinda... BUT! I'm finally inspired. Thanks to a brilliant writer on this site that wrote: "Quirks" I forget her author name, but I'm sure you could fin it under the name of the fic alone.

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"His eyes are a bit squinty..." a guy dressed in a turquoise top and purple skinny jeans said to his co-worker as he looked Axel over.

"Yes... And his lips are too thin. He's too skinny... Needs more build."

The two men circled him surveying and sizing him up. It took all of Axel's restraint not to throw a hook in their direction.

"Hmm, and something must be done to his hair. It's much too frizzy..."

"Oh my yes, I wonder how he would look with it straightened? Perhaps even trimming it..." Oh. That was IT!

"Hell no! You are not gonna cut my hair. I'll let you straighten it, but you better believe you're not gonna get within a ten meter radius of me with scissors without me coming after you with a very sharp blade."

The two men shared a glance and then looked back at Axel. They chuckled. "Good to know you fight for what you like about yourself. Alright then... Umm, your name?"

"Axel, and don't you dare forget it."

The man in the skinny jeans laughed merrily. "Alright then Axel, we'll see what we can do without cutting your hair."

The two men led the red-head away from the make-up room into another room in the back filled with racks of clothes. They were all colors and shapes. Some even looked like women's attire. Axel vowed to slit the staff's throats if they so much as suggested he wear the polka-dot Speedo on a mannequin in the corner.

"His colors are black, white, green and red essentially." The man mused.

"White would be a bit of a problem since he's already pale." The co-worker added helpfully.

"You have a point. Forget white. Hmm, burgundy would be a nice color on him. Maybe even a very dark shade of purple."

"His frame is too slight for skin-tight clothes. He'd appear too long and lanky." The co-worker mused again.

"You are very much correct Larson. But we can't have anything that drowns his frame either."

"True. I think I know just the thing!"

Axel rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation at the two fruits standing ahead of him. After the plane ride he'd been given a day to unpack. He was sharing a room with Caveman. How very ironic.

Larson rummaged around in the giant closet pulling out a burgundy long-sleeve dress shirt with a standing collar and a pair of black slacks with a casual dark brown braided leather belt with a gold buckle.

"What do you think Carl?"

Carl nodded pushing his designer glassed up his nose. "Good choice, good choice."

"You do realize I'm standing right here..." Axel said dangerously.

"Oh come now Axel, with that kind of attitude you'll never make a model." Carl said slinging his arm around the young man's lower back since that was the only place her could reach comfortably on Axel's tall frame. The red head flinched uncomfortably.

"Modeling is more than just good looks my boy. It's charisma!"

"And charm!" Larson chirped.

"And vigour!" Carl continued.

"Pizzazz!" Larson exclaimed.

"Elegance." Carl removed his arm from around Axel to demonstrate a delicate pose that suggested high education. His face inclined upwards slightly with a stoic expression and his hands out in front of him as though holding a delicate tea cup. In Axel's opinion he looked like an idiot.

Larson slipped one arm through Axel's while Carl did the same on his other side and they led him to the dressing room still spouting the qualities necessary for a model to succeed. They were almost singing it. Meanwhile Axel was left to change into the chosen outfit. He didn't take long behind the curtain and came out looking like something that ought to be on the front of a professional men's fashion magazine. All he was lacking was an expensive gold watch and some air-brushing against a black background.

The two dressers looked impressed.

"Very stylish, you really do pull it off quite nicely Axel."

And that was the beginning of a very, very long day. Axel tried on jackets, shirts, T-shirts, jeans, slacks, Polos, cotton, polyester, silk, satin, button-ups and suits. He was ready to drop when Carl and Larson finally freed him for the rest of the day.

"Don't forget there's going to be a dinner party to welcome all of you newcomers to this industry in a couple hours." Carl reminded Axel gleefully. The red head was starting to fear that Carl was a little too friendly.

"Oh, yeah... Thanks." He waved awkwardly as he went with an unsure grin and slunk out the door to head to his room. He arrived to find Caucasian kid with short black hair and amazing blue eyes. He had a strong chin and reasonably high cheek bones that allowed for very good looks. His skin was ivory pale.

"Sorry, who are you?" Axel inquired.

"Your room-mate," the young man mumbled.

"Caveman?" Axel asked incredulously.

The teen nodded.

"Oh... Sorry, I just... You look... So, they cut your hair, huh?"

"I didn't really know if I wanted them to, but in the end it's actually a lot nicer to have it out of my face."

"They tried to pull that on me and they decided their lives were more important than my hair length." Axel said smirking. Caveman laughed.

"So, you're Axel, right?" The teenager asked.

"Yeah, umm, you got a name, or do I have to keep calling you caveman?"

The boy laughed a little. "My name's Sean."

"Got it. Well, we'll be bunking partners, just so you know I might snore."

Sean smirked. "You ain't got nothing on me."

This was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Once an hour and a half had gone by, Sean and Axel walked down the navy carpeted halls to the stairs and took two flights down to the main dining room. The modeling agency had arranged for a private mansion where the chosen models could stay. It was three stories high with winding staircases lined with red carpet and wooden banisters. The roof was a dome shape with a mural of the four seasons depicted in their respective colors. The rooms were large with a fireplace in each and a fan. They each had a balcony that was large enough to lay across on a lounging chair and all lined with marble banisters.

The beds had expensive down comforters and feather pillows in silk cases. Everything was lavish and swanky.

The dining room took the cake however. With the mahogany Tudor era type table used at the King's banquets and the cushioned mahogany carved chairs glistening in the light of the candelabra sitting on the table and the dim lighting of the enormous crystal chandelier hanging fifteen feet above ground level.

Both boys were speechless as they joined the rest of the models at the table. They were pretty early, so the table was not fully seated yet.

Axel's amazement had him so absorbed that he hardly noticed the shy tug on his right sleeve. He slowly came out of his stupor to look down and find a familiar fame smiling up at him gently glowing beautifully in the slight lighting.

"Hi Charlie," Axel greeted putting a hand on her shoulder. "So, what did you have to put up with today?"

"I mostly tried on skirts and dresses. They said I was too short for the catwalk, but I don't really care. I always wanted to be a foot model anyway." With that she skipped away towards the table expecting Axel to follow. The red head smiled to himself and motioned for Sean to come with him.

"Sean, this is Charlie. She takes some getting used to at first," He said with a grin. "And Charlie, this is Sean. Does he look familiar?"

Charlie didn't even look up. "Yes, he's the one you called Caveman." She said with her faraway tones. She was drifting off into her own world again.

She never ceased to amaze the red-head and he smirked as he took his seat next to her at the huge table. Sean pulled out a chair beside him and the two started to chat and joke about their day.

The blond kid from the day before who had been receiving people on the plane... Roxas was his name he believed, came down the stairs and took a seat directly across the table from Axel. He looked content. Not happy, but comfortable if not a bit tired. He had rings under his eyes and his hair was a mess.

"Hi, you're Roxas, right?" Axel greeted pleasantly.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I know your face, but I never did catch your name."

"A-X-E-L, Axel. Got it memorized?" The red head said smirking.

Roxas didn't really smile. He just nodded politely and went back to staring off into nothing.

"Did I say something wrong?" Axel whispered to Sean at his side. The boy just shrugged.

Then Kareena was seen coming down the stairs accompanied by Farran Laird in penguin suit obviously tailored especially for him, but he was nothing compared to Kareena who was dressed in a long golden satin gown that was held up behind her neck allowing cleavage before coming together in the middle of her chest and falling to the ground trailing slightly on the floor. She wore heavy eye make-up and burgundy lip-stick. From her ears hung what looked like webbed diamonds and her hair was loose hanging down her back in waves of ebony black and some shorter pieces curling up at the base of her neck. She looked absolutely stunning.

The whispers and murmurs in the room died down immediately as she descended the last of the stairs and glided over to her chair at the head of the table gracefully. She raised her goblet.

"A toast to you all; you've had your first day, and I do hope you're not feeling too tired just yet, because this is just the beginning. There are many a strife to be contended with in modelling, and more adventure than you might think. It requires creativity, charisma, confidence and most of all, passion."

The room broke out into applause as Kareena finished her speech in her Latin accent with a royal command about her person.

"And now Mr. Farrar would like to share a few words." With this Kareena lowered her glass and left the floor to the king of the operation. Tonight he wore a monocle with his penguin suit.

"Good evening. I think it would be unwise to even attempt to equal Miss Kareena in her speech, but I do welcome you all and wish that you enjoy yourselves tonight. Eat to your heart's content, get to know each other and Bon Appétit!"

With that four men came in from one of the grand doorways carrying instruments: a cello, two violins, and a concert flute. They sat themselves in black leather chairs set out for them with music stands. After them came waiters and waitresses that went all around the table setting down different platters. It was overwhelming to Axel. He felt dizzy from the entire luster. It was so magnanimous that it should have been blinding. What kind of modelling agency had he gotten himself into?

He heard the clinking of wine glasses and merry banter around the table echoing off the hall. The sound of the music floating in the back of his mind, the alcohol from the wine buzzing lightly in his head, and the strong taste of a Cabernet Sauvignon still lingering on his tongue was all present yet surreal. The banquet was amazing and left no room for boredom. Jokes were cracked around the table and conversations were had and intercepted. Everyone was involved.

Axel's gaze landed on the chair before him without thinking. But it was empty. Axel's eyes scanned the room and found the blond climbing the second flight of stairs with an almost blank expression on his face. Axel, never one for stealth or modesty, stood abruptly and followed the boy up the stairs. Roxas stopped on the third landing and turned to his left entering the fourth and last door on that side; just as the blond was about to close the door behind him Axel called out to stop him.

Roxas opened the door a few inches to peer out at who had called his name. Axel stood a little ways down the hall with no apparent expression.

"Hey, why did you leave the festivities so soon?" Axel asked breaking the silence.

"That's really not your business." Roxas retorted.

"Sure, I'll give you that, but it just seems a shame since everyone seemed to be having a good time." Axel insisted.

"I'm just... tired. I've been sleep-deprived lately. Thanks for your concern though. Good night." And the door shut and locked. Axel stood in the silent hallway wondering why he was standing there in the first place.

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Author's Note:

WHOOT! Fifth chapter and it's pretty long. Now the plot thickens. Hope you like!


	6. Growing

All Outta Luck

Chapter 6

It's 3 O'clock in the morning and I've been Reading LOTS of Akuroku fics to inspire myself. If this chapter is kinda dodgy, you must forgive me for writing at such an untimely hour.

Disclaimer: Don't own anything Kingdom hearts: Not the characters, not the game, nor any other related content.

Oh no... The line thingy...

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The next morning Axel awoke to his alarm set for 6 A.M. Today was going to be all about exercise. Carl wasn't joking when he'd said that Axel was going to need more build. The one consolation was that Sean would be accompanying him since his dressing agents were concerned at his chubbiness and the way he'd slouch all the time.

Sean groaned and yanked the covers over his head refusing to arise from his most comfortable bed. Axel was tempted to do the same, but his sense of responsibility won him over and he rose reluctantly throwing his feet over the side of the bed and dragging his butt up to stand and saunter over to the closet. He slipped on some sweats and a white sleeveless T and then removed a black hair band he always sported on his wrist to tie his fiery locks back and out of his face.

"Sean, sorry pal, but its up-time, it took me five minutes. You shouldn't need more than that."

Seeing as he received no response the fiery red-head clicked the on button on his alarm and set it next to Sean's head now ringing while Axel went to brush his teeth. When he got back Sean was up and dressed and looked awake mostly.

"Let's catch some breakfast and then we're off to the gym." Axel declared now fully awake and lead the way out of the room with Sean yawning behind him.

On the way down the pair met Roxas wearing similar clothing to them.

"Well, good morning!" Axel greeted the blond with a friendly grin, "you off to the gym today too?"

Roxas smiled slightly and nodded.

"Well great. We can all head down for a bagel together and then head off. Do you know the way there? Cuz I don't have a clue." Axel rubbed the back of his head lifting one brow and bowing the other turning his confident grin into a sheepish one.

"Sure thing, it took me a while to find my way around at first too," The blond said kindly and joined the duo.

After breakfast Axel saw nothing more of Sean or Roxas. The only face he got to see was Carl's. The man would push his designer glasses up his nose and order Axel to do one-hundred crunches and take a two minute rest before starting up again. After the excruciating effort to warm-up, Carl had Axel lift weights to build his arms in different places and his pectorals. Only an hour into the harsh training and already Axel's whole underarm, chest and back was soaked with sweat. Carl handed him a towel to dry off with and the red head collapsed on a bench provided him panting with his tongue out.

"Yeesh! Do you put all your models through this gruelling work-out?" The boy asked gasping after taking long gulps from a water bottle Carl had given him.

The man nodded removing his glasses to clean them. "Yes, every one of our models is expected to stay in great shape. Plus, not only does exercise build your strength and help form your body, but it releases endorphins- a hormone that actually puts you in a good mood- into your system." He explained expertly.

Axel had already known the information, but he nodded and screwed the lid on the bottle back on before looking up at his instructor with a smirk, "So, what next?"

After another two hours of work-out with ten minute breaks between each hour, Axel was completely drained. He had absolutely nothing left in him as he dragged himself out of the gym and to the men's changing room to shower off and change. When he arrived he found Roxas sitting on a padded bench pulling on a clean shirt. Axel only caught a glimpse of Roxas' torso, but he thought he saw his ribs jutting out. Once the blond head emerged from the collar Axel noticed his face was a little pale as well.

He decided not to mention it and instead kept to an easy subject.

"Wow! I don't think I've worked that hard in my life." Axel said plopping down next to the blond with an exaggerated exhalation where he inflated his cheeks momentarily before letting the air fly out. He let his shoulders sag and his arms hang limp over the side of the bench between his legs. The boy smiled at him half-heartedly.

"Yeah, it's hard work." He said not really talking to Axel. The red head shrugged it off and stood with a stretch.

"Well, I'm off to the showers. I can't stand being sticky like this," He gave Roxas a winning smile, "I guess I'll see you later on, right?"

The boy nodded and rose also from the bench heading for the door. He gave a light wave before leaving Axel to the showers. The red head stared after him with concern. He could have sworn his ribs were jutting out way too prominently.

A refreshing shower and a change of clothes later, Axel was back in his room having a snooze after all the work he'd done. It was maybe an hour later that Sean returned just as exhausted as Axel had been.

"Axel," he called.

The red head immediately awoke to the sound of his name, "Hey Sean. What's up?"

"Have you eaten lunch yet?" He asked.

Axel shook his head. "Wanna get something?" He finished for his friend. Sean nodded and Axel roused himself to join Sean for a delicious Turkey sandwich.

"Man! I had to run laps all day today!" The black haired teen complained, "I'm not used to the physical exercise. I'm a gamer not an athlete." He sighed as he took another bite of his lunch.

"Ah well, if it makes ya feel any better I was doing crunches all day and body building. I'm stiff and sore and I have to do it all again tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and so on..." Axel's tone dropped to monotone as he glared half-heartedly at his sandwich.

Sean burst out laughing and the sound was too infectious for Axel to not join in. He felt his despair melt away as he continued conversing with his room mate about their impressions and shared a few jokes about the new "habitat" they were living in. It turned out to be a very pleasant day from there on.

"Well, I'm gonna take a little tour of the grounds. Would you like to come with?" Axel invited.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna do what you did and take a cat-nap. I'm still exhausted." Sean said smiling and bid Axel good bye before heading away.

The red head first explored inside since that's where he was; he explored the huge public bathrooms, the four different lounges, the foyer and then made his way outside to the amazing grounds. They were too extensive to be explored thoroughly, but he was able to find some comfy wide trees to climb and sit in to look out over the grounds. He could hardly believe that he was really there. It all felt like a dream to him. This was a huge step up from his hum-drum life working in the middle of nowhere. He even enjoyed Carl and Larson if he was completely honest. They were definitely fruits, but they were fruits with an incredible eye for fashion that Axel admittedly respected. He hadn't ever looked as dashing before yesterday when he tried on countless clothing items he would have never imagined to combine.

Axel's musings were cut short as he saw a familiar short red-head spinning around in circles a few yards away. Today she wore a long white dress that reached above her knees in length with a green ribbon tied around her tiny waist and a white sun hat to match. Axel smiled to himself. Charlie was some kind of odd ball. But he loved her for it. He didn't bother going after her. She looked so happy on her own that he didn't want to disturb her.

Feeling that he'd been out long enough, Axel jumped gracefully to the grassy ground below and headed back to the mansion. As he approached he saw the familiar face of Roxas leaning on the banister of a public balcony on the second floor. The red head smirked to himself and made a B-line for that destination. He entered the foyer and took the first flight of stairs turning left entering a wide hallway that led to the balcony Roxas was standing on.

"Fancy meeting you again," he said walking up behind the boy. Roxas turned to face Axel with a small smile and took a step towards the red head but something went amiss as Roxas' balance went awry and the boy fell forward into Axel and slid limply to his knees as he passed out. Axel caught his frame and steadied him worriedly. He hoisted the body over his shoulder and rushed him inside laying him out on a velvet bench. Lucky for him he saw a maid coming out of one of the rooms and she immediately understood the measures necessary to be taken. She rushed off to get a wet cloth, some chocolate and some water. She returned instants later and Axel took the cloth wiping Roxas' ghost pale face with it.

"Roxas, can you hear me?" No answer.

Axel patted one side of the boy's face gently hoping for a reaction. "Roxas, wake up."

A brilliant blue eye cracked open and Roxas moaned as the dizziness threatened to claim him once more.

"Hey, drink this," Axel said pouring some water down Roxas' throat. The boy swallowed eagerly and then he was awake enough to take the chocolate and munch on it slowly.

"What happened?" Roxas finally asked.

"You just passed out." Axel stated as level as he could, not wanting Roxas to panic.

The boy's eyes widened in bewilderment, "Oh... Sorry." He whispered.

Axel smiled weakly. "No need to apologize. But you should really take better care of yourself. For today you just need some rest. I'll walk you to your room."

With that Axel helped Roxas up the next flight of stairs and turned left heading for the fourth door on the left. Roxas produced the room key and unlocked the door letting Axel assist him in entering and lying on the lone bed in the large room.

"Get some rest bud. I'll let Kareena know you're not feeling up to snuff."

At the mention of her name Roxas shot up in bed and caught Axel by his wrist with his blue eyes pleading.

"No! Please... This... It's nothing. I just didn't get enough sleep is all. The work out today was overwhelming. But I know I'll be back to normal if I just rest today."

Axel quirked a brow dubiously, "Okay then... I'll keep this between you and me for now. But if this keeps up, I'm gonna have to tell Kareena to get you to a doctor."

Roxas released Axel's wrist gratefully and lay back down to rest. "Thanks. I'll be fine, I promise."

"Yeah, I hope so." With that said, Axel left the room closing the door behind him unsure whether his promise was really such a good idea.

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Woot! Another chapter!


	7. The Fates Unfold

All Outta Luck

Chapter 7

AN: I'm gonna try and make up for the lame boring chapter I put up this very early morning. So wish me luck.

There's a note for CarpetTherapyThree at the bottom of the chapter after she reads it. It won't make any sense if you read the comment before the chapter, so don't skip down. It's not worth it.

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Mr. Farrar sat in his room with all his model photographs splayed out on the floor. He admired some of the better ones fondly and returned the others to their respective folders organized by date. Farrar was a man that loved beauty, and he loved even more to create it. This new crowd seemed promising, and he hoped they'd all get signed with good names and wished them the best in the future. For now however, it was his duty along with the dressers he'd hand-picked himself to create flawless beauties out of all the recently chosen teenagers. He knew all their faces and could connect some to names as was required of him. He was most interested in a dark-skinned girl with a sort of "higher side of the hood" look about her. She exuded confidence and radiated beauty that could be embellished on. Aside from her was a potential young man who leaned for the punk-rock look. His style suggested opposite to his first impression. The kid had spunk and could definitely walk the walk and talk the talk.

Farrar jotted down their names in his little hand-held agenda.

"Alright Karla Ochoa and DJ Smith, it's time I pulled you aside for a chat." Farrar said smiling.

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DJ was out skate-boarding on the vast concrete expanse in front of the mansion when his cell phone rang out his favourite song. He clicked it open while still gliding forward.

"Yeah?"

"DJ, this is Kareena. Mr. Farrar would like to see you in his office."

DJ stopped his board and stomped down on one end sending it twirling into the air and caught it.

"Sure, where do I go?"

"His office is on the first floor. Take the hallway to your right and walk through the lounge turning to your immediate left and you should see a wide polished oak door. That's his office." Kareena instructed.

"I'm there." DJ hung up and headed inside.

Karla was interrupted playing karaoke with her room mate. She picked up her phone, got the directions and headed down eagerly.

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Charlie sat in the grass with her dress spread out around her. She stared off into the horizon with her far-away gaze. It was like she could see beyond that horizon, as though it was attainable with only reaching out her hand. She wondered if she and Axel would be signed. She hoped that if they were, it would be together.

She wondered how the farm was doing back home, and she hummed the little lullaby her mother used to sing to her and her siblings every night. Maybe she could bring back enough money to build her mother the dream cottage she'd always talked about.

Charlie removed her hat and placed it carefully down beside her. Her dressers were really nice. The two young women absolutely adored her and treated her like she was their daughter of sorts. Charlie didn't mind having to do exercise. It was fun since they used rhythmic dance. Charlie had her class with all the other girls that had signed up. They were a class of five in total.

The little red-head stared at the passing clouds dreamily and lay back on the grass with her arms out next to her. She wondered what it would be like if she could fly with her own wings. Then she wondered what it must be like to be a bird and that led to other thoughts in no particular order. Her mother always said she was a tough mind to keep up with.

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Kareena stood at Roxas' door and gave a light knock. A voice from inside asked who it was.

"It's Kareena." She answered in her Latin accent.

A shuffle was heard and the rustling of clothes then a brief pause and the door creaked open. Roxas bowed inviting the model in.

"How are things with you Roxas?" She asked casually and took a seat in a free chair.

Roxas closed the door and joined her sitting in another free chair.

"I'm great," he lied.

"You've been looking a bit ill...You're much too pale."

Roxas smiled. "It's just from being indoors all the time. I don't get a lot of sun anymore."

Kareena quirked a brow slightly, "Roxas, this has happened before. I can't allow it again."

Roxas' smile disappeared immediately. "I know..."

"You'll end up killing yourself like so many before you," She warned with genuine concern in her eyes.

Roxas turned away staring at the floor. He didn't answer.

Kareena reached out a hand and placed it gently on Roxas' right knee. "Te tienes que cuidar, mijo."

Roxas met her eyes finally. He'd heard enough Spanish from Kareena to know she'd just told him he needed to take care of himself. He sighed.

"It's a bad habit..."

"Mi amor, it's more than a habit. It's an obsession. You see yourself with more meat on your skeleton than you have."

"But I don't want to gain anymore weight..." He whispered.

Kareena stood with a severe expression. "Roxas, you eat and gain weight or else you're out of here. You understand? You'll be off to a health care clinic before you can say Jack. And that will be the end of your career," she watched as Roxas' wide blue eyes fogged over, "It's better than being dead."

With that Kareena left closing the door behind her. Roxas rose and clumsily made his way to the bed where he let gravity do the rest of the work falling backwards onto the mattress. His mind was in blank.

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Sean awoke after a good hour and a half of sleep to find Axel watching TV on mute. He yawned and sat up. He wore his favourite Metallica T-shirt and his baggy jeans.

Axel turned his head to see his room-mate sitting up and smirked. "Have a good dream?"

"Yup."

"I've been watching "Friends" while you've been out. It's not as funny when you can't hear the jokes." The redhead said with a grin. Sean laughed.

"You didn't have to mute it. I can sleep through anything."

"Bet you can, so now I know for next time. Same goes for you."

"Alrighty."

Then Sean's stomach grumbled.

"MAN! This is so not fair."

"What isn't?" Axel asked.

"They put me on a diet. Now I have to eat salads and non-fattening foods until I slim down."

Axel smiled compassionately. "Hey, don't sweat it. You'll be in shape in no time. Just keep having fun while you're at it and you won't have any trouble."

Sean scowled, "Yeah, I know. You're right... But being hungry is putting me in some kind of a cranky mood."

"Oh, just play your PS2 and stop whining." Axel joked as he stood from the bed.

"I'ma have a shower."

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Two Weeks Later....

"Axel! Great news!" It was Carl on the line.

"I'm listening."

"Farrar wants to see you. He's thinking about shooting a few photos!"

Axel's heart skipped a beat. Then he shouted out triumphantly.

"Great! Well, tell me where I gotta go!"

Axel followed Carl's instructions and took the stairs down to the first floor and turned to his right through the lounge room and then took his immediate left finding the polished oak doors Carl told him about. Axel stopped to straighten the collar of his black silk button-up and made sure his burgundy slacks looked pressed. He'd borrowed the clothes from Larson a few days back because he had no formal clothes himself.

He clicked his heels together for good luck and gave a bold knock on the door.

"Come in."

Axel did just that and found Farrar sitting behind his desk scrolling down on a page on is computer.

"Sir, Carl told me you wanted to see me." He addressed politely with a confident grin.

Farrar turned to face Axel and his face lit up. "Ah yes!" He rose from his chair and came around his desk to greet the young man ushering him to come and sit at his desk.

"I've been tracking your progress Axel. You have made a great impression of yourself."

Axel felt the blood rush to his face. Farrar held such an air of authority and respect that Axel was actually intimidated, and the complement exuded Farrar's sincerity.

"Now, now boy!" Farrar laughed merrily, "No need to blush!"

That just sent another rush of blood to his face that earned more chuckles from the figure before him.

"Well Axel," Farrar finally said once he stopped laughing, "I wanted to know if you'd be willing to do a photo shoot with me this afternoon?"

Axel's back straightened. "It would be my pleasure." He said enthusiastically. He felt so young compared to Farrar...So Small. That had NEVER happened in his life.

"Good to hear it!" Farrar exclaimed joyfully. "Let's be off to the studio then, shall we?"

Axel nodded and rose from his seat following Farrar out of the office and back through the lounge where countless eyes glanced in their direction while some stared openly and others pointed. Everyone knew who Farrar was and what it meant if someone was with him. Axel received some jealous glares from some of the girls sitting together. He smirked back at them spitefully and one turned her nose up at him.

Axel followed Farrar through the entrance and over the grounds to a separate building he assumed was the studio. Farrar lifted his cell phone to his ear briefly. "Yes, Carl?"

...

"I need you to come to the studio right away. You know Axel's colors better than I do, and I need your professional opinion."

...

"Splendid, I'll see you shortly!"

Click

"Axel, do you know anything about what modelling involves other than good looks?" Farrar asked with a smile.

"Lot's of exercise," Axel breathed out the word as though just the thought exhausted him. Farrar laughed.

"Well, that too. But did you know you actually do a lot of investigating and studying?"

Axel said nothing expecting Farrar to continue.

"Yes, believe it or not, modelling is more than just brawn. We encourage our models to investigate historical characters and the lifestyles they lived in so they can interpret that character when modelling. It's a bit like acting, but it's all body language instead of dialogue." Farrar explained.

Axel nodded with interest. "And what character do you want me to look into?"

Farrar stopped and looked Axel over. "I think an old pharaoh might do you well. You have the makings of an Egyptian... a little body spray to darken your skin and we're in business."

"Got a pharaoh in mind?" Axel asked.

"I think we'll go with Akhenaten. He was real bringer of change to his people."

"Ackhena-wha?" Axel choked on the name, "I think I'm gonna need you to spell that one out for me Farrar... I mean Sir."

Farrar grinned revealing the beginnings of wrinkles at the sides of his mouth. "No need for formalities Axel. You can call me by my first name; in fact I much prefer it that way. And don't worry, I'll write out the name for you to look up once we arrive at the studio."

Once they arrived, Axel set to work looking up the history and life of this pharaoh and found it pretty interesting. Of course Axel knew his share about Egypt already. What person didn't? Mummies were world renown.

Akhenaten ended up being the very pharaoh married to Nefertiti. He had a distinct art interest and brought that change onto his people and instilled the worship of only one god: Aten.

Axel found that Akhenaten gave special privileges to his wife and the depictions of them together showed affection and caring opposite to what Axel expected. He rather liked this character. Once done his investigation, Axel pushed away from the computer and stood to walk over to Farrar who was setting up the camera. The studio was nothing special. It was just a warehouse with a big black cloth over one of the walls. There were also many lights pointing down from the roof in many different shades and sizes. Presumably that was where Axel would be doing the shoot.

"Well, I'm ready for my close-up." Axel said smirking.

Farrar chuckled and turned as he heard the door to the warehouse open and saw Carl come in.

"Welcome!" Farrar greeted.

"Thank you, Sir. What style are you thinking today?"

I think we're going for a sort of modern Egyptian feel. Take an old pharaoh for instance and think like he lived in this present day." Farrar explained.

Carl nodded once. "Yes, yes..." He looked Axel over considering what would look best to pull off Farrar's idea.

"I've got just the thing." With that Carl disappeared behind a white door and a light came on from inside. He was heard rummaging around for about ten minutes until e came out with a whole cart full of clothes.

"We're ready to begin." He stated triumphantly.

Well, modelling required a lot more work than Axel had ever imagined. Before they could start Carl brought in the airbrush and painted Axel's skin a light tan color. Carl even applied liquid eyeliner to accentuate the Egyptian look.

Props were moved in and out all the time along with staying in one pose for very long periods of time while the camera went firing off about a dozen pictures a second. Axel was asked to make certain faces that were worthy of a pharaoh and asked to think like he WAS the pharaoh of all those years ago. It was actually really fun. Carl would come in between shots to fix any little detail on the clothes or Axel's hair or make-up and fuss over this and that. Axel would have to change all the time. Sometimes just switching a vest out for a scarf or whatever Farrar came up with.

About two hours later Farrar seemed satisfied and let Axel get cleaned up in the bathroom provided in the warehouse. It actually came with a tub and shower head. Apparently airbrushing was always used.

After his bath Axel came out dressed in a comfortable baggy t-shirt and cargo pants that Carl kindly let him use. Farrar was at the computer downloading the pictures. He motioned for Axel to come without looking up. The boy acquiesced am went over to find an amazingly good-looking red-head staring back with royal authority. He wore no shirt with long beige cargo pants on. He lay on a rustic love-seat holding his head up on one palm. His eyes were glittering in the dim light of the picture. His skin looked flawless and porcelain and his daily work-outs were really showing results as his once flat and thin stomach showed traces of abs.

"That's...Me?" He whispered.

"That's right Axel, all you and no one else."

Axel could hardly believe it. He couldn't tear his eyes off the photo. It looked so amazing. Who would have through that such a simple background and a little bit of make-up could do all that? He felt pride swell in his chest as he soaked in every detail. Finally he looked up at Farrar and Carl with a huge crooked grin on his face.

"I friggin' love it!"

"Hopefully the people we're presenting these too will as well." Farrar said smiling. "You could very well get signed."

Axel's grin stayed in place. "They don't know what their missin'. Once they see those photos of me they won't even know what hit 'em."

Carl and Farrar shared knowing smile and turned to the boy.

"Well, that's it for today. You still have your work-out to do." Carl said clapping his hands.

"Say what? Don't I get a grace period for all this modeling?"

Carl was stern at first much beyond bending to Axel's pleading, but he couldn't take the puppy-dog eyes.

"Oh fine, we'll just do an hour and you're free for the rest of the day."

Axel whoo-hood and pumped his fist in the air once before heading out of the warehouse with Carl behind him.

"Thanks a lot Farrar. Today was pretty damn awesome."

"Glad to know you enjoyed it as much as I did."

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After the work-out Axel was still pumped with energy. He had plenty to spare and he needed someone to share it with. Where was Sean? And Charlie? Heck! Even Roxas, and he had seen the blond that very morning looking a lot better than the last time he'd seen him. But he looked a little bummed out for some reason. What better reason to invite him? Axel knew Sean and Charlie could be the perfect cure. He was decided then. He ran up the stairs skipping two at a time until he reached the third floor and slammed the door to his room open.

"Sean! Let's go to the bar and have some fun!" Sean looked up from the TV and smiled.

"It's about time I partied a little."

Axel called Charlie on her cell phone and asked her to meet them in the bar. She agreed and hung up. Now it was just Roxas who was left to be invited. Axel rushed down a flight of stairs with Sean hot on his heels. The boys smirked at each other and on the count of three they both started pounding on the door calling out Roxas' name.

The door swung open violently and a ticked-off blond stood in the doorway.

"What?" He demanded bluntly.

Axel swung his arm around Roxas' shoulders pulling him from the room with a grin. "You're comin' with us to have a hang out."

Sean was grinning from ear to ear as well. "It's time we had a bit of fun, don't you think Roxas?"

Roxas was too bewildered to answer, but he was obviously confused by who the heck the kid in the black shirt was.

"Ah, Roxas, this is the product of Caveman's hair cut, diet and exercise. Meet Sean." Axel said bowing as though Sean were a king of sorts. Sean smirked and played the part.

"Yeah, and you should be honoured to be of my acquaintance."

Roxas finally cracked a smirk of his own and gave both boys a playful punch in the arm. "Alright, some time to have fun doesn't sound so bad."

"That's the spirit Roxie!"

"Roxie...?" The blond asked dangerously.

Axel held his hands up in defence. "Okay, okay, no need to say anything. No more cute pet names for you."

"Pet names?" Roxas' voice grew more dangerous still.

Sean saw his golden opportunity right there, and he took it.

"Hey Roxie!" He flirted. "You sure are a cute blond, eh Roxie?" He said these words while taking careful steps backwards still smirking.

Axel caught on immediately and joined in calling out the pet name with a flirting tone. Roxas eventually exploded and went after the two boys swearing to high heaven he was going to kill them both.

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Roxas had Sean and Axel up against a corner with no where to go and was ready to pummel them both when he felt a small cold hand on his arm. He swivelled around to be greeted by a tiny girl with short spiked red hair and amazingly bright lime green eyes.

"Hello, what are you doing to Axel and Sean?" She asked curiously.

All the fire left Roxas the instant he heard the wind chime voice. "I... Uhh, they were teasing me and... I was going to... teach them a lesson."

"Oh... Well, have fun. Don't make either of them bleed though." She said airily and took a seat at an empty booth.

Roxas met with the blank stares of Sean and Axel and all three busted out laughing. The sound filled their whole portion of the bar and a few heads turned in their direction to see what all the hullaballoo was all about. Once satisfied they all turned back to their own conversations.

The boys blushed together and took their seat with Charlie.

"Uh, sorry, but I don't know your name." Roxas said to the girl.

"It's Charlie. I know your name, you're Roxas."

"Everyone knows Roxas. He's Kareena's favourite!" Sean said elbowing the blond playfully.

Roxas glared at Sean half-heartedly and then smiled. "It's not my fault I'm so drop dead gorgeous." He joked.

Axel smirked. "Oh no, you have nothing on this cat. I'm hotter than any one of you losers," Axel bowed his head to Charlie momentarily, "all but you lovely. You've even got me beat."

Charlie giggled and propped her chin on a palm smiling. "I think we're all beautiful."

Sean ginned. "Not exactly the adjective I would have thought for myself, but I get your drift."

"Well, I still think I'm the best lookin' male here." Axel insisted with his crooked grin.

Roxas smirked, "No way you can compete with this angelic face." He said pointing to himself.

They were about to get into it again when the waitress came by asking for their orders. Sean and Axel asked for Piña Coladas while Roxas and Charlie asked for Shirley Temples.

"You know Roxas; you're actually pretty fun to be around." Sean mused. "You seem so serious all the time that it's almost shocking to see you laughing and joking."

Roxas blushed lightly. "Do I really seem that stand-offish?"

The occupants of the table all nodded together.

"Wow... Sorry. I don't mean to give that impression." He said with his eyes down to the table.

"Man, you need to stop apologizing all the time. Every time you apologize for something unnecessary I'm going to pinch you." Axel threatened with his trademark smirk.

The table chuckled. It was an odd group: Roxas the reserved one, Sean the gamer, Charlie the dreamer and Axel the flaming personality. But Axel really liked it this way. This was his group of friends.

After the hang out, the four friends headed to their respective rooms. It was ten p.m. and they still had all their usual things to do the next day. The boys walked Charlie back to her room and bid her good night with a hug and then headed off to their own quarters.

"Hey Roxas, don't you sleep alone?" Sean asked.

"Uh... Yeah, why?"

"You wanna spend the night in our room? I have PS2 and games." The tall boy invited. His eyes were bright blue and shining sincerely.

Axel smiled. "Hey yeah. Come on and join us."

Roxas felt his chest swell happily. "Sure, just let me get something to sleep in."

He slipped inside his room and grabbed some comfy pants to sleep in and a t shirt plus his tooth brush and that was it.

"I'm ready."

"Then let's go!"

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WHOA! Another chapter! HAHA! And it's LONG! Like...Eleven pages long. It took a lot of dedication to get that done.

Well, read and enjoy!

AN: Hullaballoo! Haha, Carpettherapythree, admit it, you were saying the word out loud when you read it, weren't you? Lol

Taa taa!


	8. Waxing, paparazzi and disappointment

All Outta Luck

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own KH or any related material.

Ooh, line thingy...

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Axel backed away slowly with his arms outstretched against the oncoming offenders. Carl and Larson advanced on him with evil grins pasted on their now impish faces. The purple-clad Carl demon and the skin-tight black-clad Larson demon... The dynamic duo of fashion and aesthetic were hunting the red head down for something he hardly thought he deserved.

"Oh, but Axel... This is a MUST if you want to continue modeling." Larson purred still advancing.

"No freakin' way I'm letting you do THAT to ME."

Carl pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose still grinning as his eyes glinted malevolently. "Oh don't be a baby Axel. You're nineteen for Heaven's sake."

Axel continued backing away without responding to the evil demands of his pursuers.

"It's just a wax. Just your legs, chest, back and we need to get those hairs off your backside." Larson's grin was marble white and was all Axel could see now that he'd cornered himself in the back of the changing room and the shadows hid the rest of the dresser's face. The reflection of Carl's glasses and his own pearly whites joined Larson's in the embodiment of a nightmare Axel had only hoped he'd never see.

"Screw you! I'm NOT getting waxed even if you two suddenly come up with a million dollars and deposit it in my bank account. There's NOTHING you could possibly say or do to make me willingly let you rip the hair off my body." Axel pushed himself against the back wall wishing he could sink through it. As the demons advances Axel pushed harder into the wall moving as close as he could until there was no space left.

The two men chuckled together and their voiced resonated through the room sending chills down Axel's spine.

"It's too bad you didn't come peacefully." Carl said clicking his tongue.

"Ready?" Larson asked.

"No!" Axel butted in and was ignored.

"Alright!" Carl exclaimed and both men attacked the boy at the same time.

Crash, boom, bang, clink, crack, rustle, rustle...

A struggle and ten minutes later...

Axel hung limp and defeated as Larson and Carl carried him out of the changing room by his hands and feet. They were lucky he liked them. Any other jerk who might have tried this on him would have been lucky to come out with just a broken nose.

The two carried Axel to the large bathroom and set him on the padded table.

"Well, take off your clothes and just leave your boxers on." Larson implored expectantly.

Axel glared at the two men before him.

"Is this the part where you rape me?"

Carl guffawed and Larson chuckled. "Just take your clothes off you stubborn menace."

Axel groaned in defeat and stood from his perch to remove his shirt and pants.

"This is gonna hurt... huh?"

"No, no! You'll only feel a little stinging feeling." Carl assured.

Axel hoped he wasn't lying.

He was.

"SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Axel screamed as the first patch of was ripped away from him stomach.

"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!" He sat holding his stomach protectively.

"YOU SAID IT WOULDN'T FREAKIN' HURT YOU ASSHOLES!"

Carl and Larson were now both guffawing at their patient's expense. The red head gave them a glare that could have killed.

Larson calmed down first when he noticed the little tears in the corners of the boy's eyes.

"Look Axel, the stomach is what hurts the most, the rest is cake." He said laying a hand on the boys shoulder for consolation.

"You're still an ass..." He groaned and lay back down to let the torture continue.

Another strip...

"DAMN!"

Another...

"SHIT, DAMN, SHIT!"

Last one...

"I FREAKIN' HATE YOU!"

"There! That's the end of your stomach; now on to the easy parts." Larson said nonchalantly. He received another deadly glare in turn. Carl was still laughing.

"Carl, you're fired! You hear me you fruit cake?! Fired!"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Carl grinned, "Only Farrar has that kind of authority, besides, you know deep down you'd miss me."

Axel exaggerated a gag until he was distracted by the RIP of another strip coming off his skin. This time it didn't hurt as much. Larson was telling the truth.

"That wasn't so bad, now was it?" The dresser asked with a smirk.

"I still hate you, and you're both still assholes."

They laughed.

Well, the legs were easy, and Axel had no hair on his chest to speak of, his back was clean...

"Well, show us that lovely backside of yours." Carl said a little too enthusiastically.

"Hell no! You guys have desecrated me enough for one day."

Carl rolled his eyes. "You're such a whiner. Just shut up and cooperate and it'll be over before you know it."

Axel growled and flipped himself over on the table pulling the hem of the boxers down below his backside and waited with dread. "Is this gonna hurt like the first strip?"

"Most likely," Larson answered.

"Bring it on."

The trip was applied... and..

RIP

"OH MY GOD!"

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Axel limped back to the main house. His ass was stinging like he'd just been branded, and his stomach wasn't much better. His maniac dressers suggested he take a cool shower or bath to ease the burning and gave him some skin cream for after. Larson was a lot more sympathetic than Carl... The four eyed idgiot was pleased as a plum. He hadn't laughed like that in ages was his excuse. Axel swore he was going to take this up with Farrar...

"Ouch! My ass..." He whined.

"What about your backside?" Came a familiar feminine voice. A sexy one.

Axel whirled around to find Kareena the goddess.

"Oh... Sorry, you weren't supposed to hear that."

Kareena smirked with her dark lips, "First time getting waxed?"

Axel nodded sheepishly.

"Well it would have been a shame that such a fine body shouldn't be exposed to its maximum potential. You should be glad." She said this and kept walking leaving Axel dumbfounded.

"She just... She... HA! I knew she liked me!" He pumped his fist and soon repented when the movement brutally reminded him of his burning skin.

"Stupid wax..."

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Sean was laughing so hard that Axel could hear it clearly through the bathroom door.

"THEY WAXED YOUR ASS?!"

"Oh shut up you freakin' moron."

"But dude! They're both GAY MEN! And you let them WAX YOUR ASS!"

Axel decided to ignore the idgiot and enjoy his bath. The water felt delicious on his skin. It soothed the pain oh so nicely. He wouldn't be able to walk right for a while he feared. Not after that...

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Axel limped out of his room not dressed in loose clothing: His black sweat pants and a baggy orange T-shirt. He had applied the cream after the bath, and even though it was soothing the pain, it would take a while to heal completely. Why he put up with those two fruits was beyond him.

"Hey Axel!"

The red head turned to find a pair of dazzling blue eyes.

"Hey Roxas," Axel greeted weakly.

"You don't look so good. What happened?"

"Long story..."

"I got time."

"Let's take this outside."

Once the pair was way out in the grounds Axel told the story. As expected, the guffaws of laughter followed shortly.

"You actually let them wax your backside?!" The blond hissed through his laughter.

"They had me pinned down! They tied me down with ropes and threatened to brand me if I didn't cooperate." Axel said desperately.

"Yeah right! You probably didn't have the heart to beat the tar out of them and just let them do as they asked." The blond said through intervals between laughs.

"Yeah, so what if I did? I couldn't just beat them to bloody pulps."

Roxas' laughter finally died down as he caught his breath with tears in his eyes.

"Wow," he gasped wiping the tears on the back of his sleeve, "you've had some day. You're still in pain by the looks of it."

"Yeah..." Axel twitched.

"Sorry."

"What for?" Axel turned to ask the blond while quirking a brow.

"I shouldn't be laughing. I went through that the first time too. It really hurts. And the stomach hurts the most, huh?"

"Damn right it does, but you have nothing to apologize for. I'm telling it to make you laugh and pouting after because it's just more fun."

Roxas smiled. "Well, you made my day."

"Good to know. I guess I should get myself into these humiliating situations more often then."

"What? Just to make my day? Sounds like a pretty cheap pay for such a high level of discomfort."

"Nah, it's worth it." The red head smirked gently with sincere eyes.

A little color came over Roxas' cheeks but immediately stopped as he saw something horrifying over Axel's shoulder.

"What is it?" Axel asked curiously turning to look but was interrupted when Roxas yanked on his upper arm pulling him further into the grounds and behind the main building. They ran as fast as they could and stopped wheezing and gasping for air with their hands on their knees when they were completely hidden behind the building.

"Why the rush?" Axel huffed.

"Pa...pa," Roxas gasped.

"Your dad?" Axel supplied.

"No... Paparazzi." The word came out in one gasp and a wheeze ensued.

"Oh. They really that scary?" Axel asked with his breath now decently caught.

"Yes they are." Roxas still huffed. "They come after me all the time looking to get dirt on my life. I have absolutely no privacy."

"Jerks," Axel growled.

"That's putting it lightly." Roxas said standing and letting his back rest against the back wall of the building.

"Did they see us?" Axel asked.

"I don't know, but I really hope not."

"Well, let's get out of here then." With that Axel grabbed Roxas' wrist to continue the way they had been going.

"Wait! I need to rest just another..."

FLASH, CLI CK, FLASH, POOF, CLICK

"Is this your lover Roxas?"

"How long have you been going out?"

"Who are you and what made you start dating Roxas?"

Well holy freakin' hell. This was some kind of obnoxious bunch and they were wearing Axel's patience pretty thin.

Roxas ran and Axel ran with him momentarily distracted from his mental tirade. They ran in the opposite direction jumping hedges, rocks and bushes. But all this wasn't enough to lose the most persistent four of the paparazzi who were still snapping pictures like crazy running with microphones around their necks.

Axel's temper blew right there. He stopped dead in his tracks not checking to see if Roxas had stopped or not.

He let the paparazzi catch up with him smirking devilishly and cracking his knuckles. They stopped with microphones in hand and cameras still snapping.

"So what can we call you?" One man asked.

"Your first pain of the day."

With that Axel let his fists fly. He attacked all four paparazzi with blazing fists that were well trained from street fights back home. None of these paparazzi fools seemed to know how to fight and writhed in agony under Axel's killer punches, jabs, hooks and uppercuts. One escaped the pack scooting away groaning and hit something behind him. He looked up terrified to find two blazing blue eyes glaring down at him.

"Please! No more! Don't hurt me!" His lip was bleeding and one eye was swollen shut.

"Get. Out."

The blonds' tone was uncharacteristically low and menacing.

"Sir, of course!"

"Axel! That's enough!" Roxas demanded.

Axel stopped his fist mid-punch and looked up to see the blond with determination painted all over his face. The red head dropped the goon to the floor and with a light kick to his ribs left the mosh pit of bloody lips and noses to grovel and leave humbly grumbling under their breaths about revenge.

They duo watched them leave making sure they took the paparazzi that hadn't gone for the chase with them. Then Roxas turned to Axel with a serious expression.

"This will not bode well."

"Kinda big talk there, what's wrong?"

"They still have pictures of us together. That will no doubt appear in the next tabloids and magazine covers."

Axel rested his hands behind his head as Roxas spoke and then smiled light heartedly.

"As far as I'm concerned they can spout as much crap about me as they like, and I don't think you should give too much of a care either. It's a magazine. Some will believe it and some wont. I don't think your ratings will go down because of a rumour that you're going out with a co-model."

Roxas' expression went slack. "You really don't mind?"

"Not at all."

The blond gave a genuine smile. "You know, I think you're the first real friend I've had in a long time."

Warmth that Axel had never experienced enveloped his chest like a fire burning within. He felt a tingle creep out over his skin down his arms and up his neck. He smiled back.

"I could say the same, aside from Sean and Charlie of course."

Roxas was still smiling.

"And the first guy I think I've ever started to fall for."

Roxas' eyes shot wide open.

"Sorry, what?"

"I think I might just like you Roxas." Axel said lowering his arms to his sides watching the horizon instead of looking the blond in the eyes. "I know it's weird, but don't let it get in the way of us being friends."

Axel heard Roxas turn and start to walk away without a word. He heard the foot steps grow further and further until they were not to be heard anymore. Axel smiled despite himself.

"Yeah, break my heart like all the others before you. I can take it." His eyes were hidden by his insane red locks as he felt his chest clench. And it had been such a nice day too.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Wow... angst. Not a lot mind you. This is nothing compared to what it could be.

Well, read and review!

Over and Out!

Creep_Stats3


	9. Sweet as Honey, Bitter as Lime

All Outta Luck  
Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own KH or any of its characters. I only own the original characters in this story. No duh.

* * *

Not even a week later there were pictures of Axel and Roxas all over the web and in magazines. But, as Axel predicted, it wasn't a big deal. Who ever followed the life of a model anyway? The paparazzi hardly got their money's worth for the pain they took from Axel.

Since that day, Axel hadn't really talked to Roxas properly. He'd seen him at dinner and in the mornings on his way to training and photo shoots, but the blond had managed to avoid him every time. Needless to say, the red head was pissed. No one ignored Axel and got away with it.

During a break Axel was shooting hoops with DJ, Sean, Charlie, Karla and July. July was a sporty girl with short carrot-colored hair, clear green/hazel eyes and a warm fun-loving personality. She was disgustingly talented: played the guitar, could sing, could dance, and of course she was attractive with a toned lightly tan body. She was one of the girls Charlie had her rhythmic dance work-out with aside from Karla. The girls played against the boys in a pretty well-matched game. Karla moved surprisingly well for someone as bodacious as she was. Her dark hair was tied back out of her face and she wore orange velvet sweat pants and a white fitted sleeveless top with a V neck. She wore large hoop-earrings that couldn't be comfortable to play basketball in, but she never complained. Charlie wore a white velvet sweat suit with pink lines on coming down from her shoulders to the ends of the sleeves and from her waist-band to her ankles. She had green bobby pins holding her hair out of her intense green eyes.

The girls were kicking ass as the boys struggled to keep up. At the end of the game, the marker read: 40 to 10.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Sean whined as he plopped down on the bench provided sweating profusely. Sean had certainly evolved since he'd arrived. His arms were well-toned, and the skin-tight white tank top revealed the product of all his hard training. Sean looked up to meet Karla's chocolate eyes briefly before she quickly looked the other way. Was she blushing?

"Damn we suck," DJ sighed defeated. His hair was spiked up in his usual mace-do. He wore jeans and a T-shirt. He looked up at the clear sky shielding his black eyes from the glare of the sun. "Does this mean we have to do something embarrassing?"

"Hadn't thought of that, but now that you mention it…" July trailed off with in impish glint in her eyes.

"You have to treat us to a night out this week end. All costs are on you." Karla said with finality after taking a sip of water and passing the bottle to Charlie.

"And we shall have a secret Santa gift-exchange," Charlie chimed in airily.

"That's not exactly a punishment Charlie," July laughed as she pushed her fingers through her copper hair, "but it sounds fun."

"This should be an interesting Friday…" Sean mused with a lopsided smile. Karla couldn't help thinking how adorable he looked. She caught her thoughts and hmphed crossing her arms over her chest and looking away angrily. Sean never noticed.

"Hate to say it guys, but we have to get to work again," said Axel as he dried the sweat from his brow with a small towel. His emerald eyes were glowing with energy.

Grumbles and sighs came from all around with the exception of one small "oh good!" coming from non-other than Charlie the weird. Everyone shot the girl odd looks that went right over her head.

Everyone bid farewell to one-another and headed off for their training or classes they might have for the day. As Axel approached the running track he saw Roxas running along. The boy was oblivious to Axel's presence and proceeded to run. The red head moved to the center of the lane the blond was running on and once Roxas saw him standing there he simply lowered his eyes to the ground and switched lanes as he came closer not slowing down. As he passed Axel a hand shot out catching him by the forearm yanking him backwards.

"What is it?" Roxas snapped without looking up.

Axel had his eyes closed in frustration. "You're being an ass is what's up. The hell happened to you after that day?"

Roxas yanked his arm away and slouched in place opening and closing his fists at a loss for words. He glared at the ground instead.

"Well?" Axel insisted.

"Nothing. It's nothing, alright?"

Axel felt a vein pop in his temple. "Nothing huh?"

Roxas said nothing and walked off the track snatching up his water bottle and supply bag heading for the manor.

"Ass..." Axel hissed under his breath and started running the track at full speed to blow off some steam.

* * *

July watched as Charlie pirouetted in her faded lime green skinny-jeans and her tie-dye flared top in the grassy plains as the sun was setting in the horizon. The copper-haired girl inspected the little white flower between her thumb and index finger with a small smile. Charlie had given it to her not even five minutes ago. The trees swayed with a light breeze and Charlie's bell-like giggles were only a whisper in the wind.

"Terribly painful, this is," July mused as her eyes glowed with the last rays of sunlight slowly disappearing over the horizon.

* * *

DJ had his third photo-shoot with Farrar that evening. He was exhausted as he dragged himself back to his room and collapsed on his bed. He lay there momentarily with his eyes closed and cracked one black eye open to peer out the window at the pink sky outside.

"I better have a shower."

* * *

Sean and Karla had a class together and walked back to the manor arguing sarcastically back and forth amiably. Karla had nearly tripped over a large fallen tree-branch on the ground while not paying attention.

"That was pretty big actually," Sean pointed out.

"I thought it was a root and I thought I'd lifted my foot high enough over it. So shut up."

"I would have laughed so hard if you'd fallen."

"Thanks a lot! I'm going to warn everyone not to trust you with saving them."

"No, it's just you."

"I'm close to hitting you over the head with my bag."

"C'mon, don't pretend you wouldn't laugh."

"Well… Actually," Karla broke off laughing.

"Aha! See?"

"Yeah yeah, but I wouldn't laugh until I was sure you were alright."

"Oh, I'm just so heartless. No, I'd just laugh."

The two laughed together and split ways once they arrived at the stair-case in the manor.

* * *

Roxas was in the bath-tub sulking. He replayed his not-so-great conversation with Axel over and over in his mind. Maybe he was being an ass… He didn't know why exactly either. Was it fear? Indignity? Roxas wasn't completely sure, but he knew that he was uncomfortable with the sudden confession. It made everything awkward. It wasn't that he hated Axel for it, but it wasn't as easy to be around him, and friends were hard to come by. When Axel expressed feelings beyond friendship Roxas had felt his heart break. That was the story of his life: He couldn't just be _friends_ with anyone. Oh no, everyone wanted more. He was sick of it, and he'd hoped that it would be different this time. Oh the cruel vicissitudes of fate.

Deep down Roxas knew he had to talk to Axel eventually. He'd be cool about it and just tell him the way it was. The boy let himself sink further under water blowing bubbles underwater. He was terrified of facing Axel again after the afternoon's scenario. Roxas shuddered and came up for a deep breath.

"Dammit Axel…" He breathed.

* * *

Axel had long ago accepted that he was bisexual, and perhaps leaning more in favor of his same gender than the other way. Still, he appreciated women and he knew he liked them. However, despite his amazing good looks and charisma, his heart had been broken too many times to count. He'd been turned down by girls and guys alike due to the most ridiculous and random circumstances imaginable. Sometimes the girl turned out to be lesbian, the guy was stalk-straight, or they were taken, they were of some faith or another and refused to date him because he was Atheist, there was even a case where a girl turned him down saying that Axel was just flat-out too intimidating for her. Some had done the same thing Roxas had: just turned around and walked away without another word. Axel had let them go feeling like there was nothing left to be said, but this time he felt the fire burning from the inside out. He was putting his foot down dammit! That was it, he was going to make Roxas his if it meant spending his whole career trying to turn him gay.

The red head glared up at the dark ceiling listening to Sean's loud snores coming from the other bed. The snoring made him feel a little better and he settled down in his new-found resolve and slept.

* * *

Friday:

Charlie danced around the circle of friends with her bowler hat letting each person pick out a folded paper for the secret Santa. She was adamant about it disregarding protests from the others.

"If you get your own name we need to do it again," Charlie chirped as she went around. Today she wore her vibrant hair spiky. She wore small silver hoops and two extra piercings in her upper cartilage of her right ear. Both were emerald studs. She was wearing one black and pink striped stalking and another orange and purple polka-dotted stalking with a short frilly white skirt and a lacy pink and black corset. Her eye-lids were painted an intense green eye-shadow and eye-liner. It made her look older, but it changed her personality none. She was still the same far-away day-dreamer. Only Charlie could ever pull off such an insane outfit.

On the first try everyone managed to get other names without pulling out their own.

Axel had picked up July, July had picked up DJ, DJ had Charlie, Charlie had Sean, Sean had Karla and Karla had Axel.

"Uh, what do we do if we have no idea what to give this person?" DJ asked unsure.

"You can give them anything that you didn't buy! You either have to make something, give them something of yours that you don't need or something from nature… Think of anything you can get for free." Charlie explained gleefully. She looked so odd in what she was wearing. She almost didn't look like herself at all.

"So, it's Friday. You guys know what that means…" Karla said mischievously.

"Party!" July shouted.

Charlie nodded. "Yes, yes. Do not forget that tonight you must treat us specially."

"Aw Charlie, how could you? Don't I always treat you specially?" Axel said in mock-hurt.

Charlie skipped over to the red head and sat next to him patting his hand while smiling. "Of course you do, but tonight is extra-special."

Axel couldn't say no to Charlie. If she'd asked him to find a way to bring Mahatma Gandhi from the grave, he would have done it. She was just too cute.

"Everyone knows Axel can't say no to Charlie!" Karla teased.

July smirked, "Charlie! Ask Axel to pretty please buy me the shirt I've been wanting, I bet you can convince him!"

"Hey! Don't you even dream of it!"

Charlie looked at Axel with kind eyes and put her hand over his with the same far-away look in her eyes. "You could afford it Axel," She said gently.

Axel tried to say no. Really, he did. In the end he sapped a hand to his face dragging it downward pulling his skin with it until he dropped it to his side limply. "Fine you little devil. You got it."

"Whoa! I was just kidding!" July laughed, "But who would I be to turn down a freebie?"

Why oh why was Charlie so damn cute? WHY?!

Axel dropped his head letting it hang in defeat. "Sometimes I really hate you Charlie, you know that?"

The girl smiled whole-heartedly. "That's alright. I'll give you a flower so you can cheer up."

Axel sighed. There was no beating her.

* * *

At a bar/dance club on site:

It was a private facility, so luckily there were only VIP members sitting around chattering excitedly all around. A lot of faces were unfamiliar. They were the faces of some of the staff on-site while others were simply other models having a night out.

The gang was decked out in suave clothes: Axel wore a black pin-striped suit with a bright red polo underneath with the first three buttons undone revealing his neck line and a sneak peek of his newly buff pectorals. Some girls and guys alike were drooling over him already asking him to dance or buying him drinks.

Sean was no slouch wearing a white T dyed to look like it was blood-stained and designer ripped jeans*. His hair was spiked up expertly with his sideburns accentuating his high cheek-bones and square jaw. He had a few girls swooning over him and hoping he'd ask them to dance.

DJ was wearing his usual ripped jeans and a skin-tight tank top with his hair gelled to look like a faux hawk.

Charlie remained dressed as she had been earlier. No one dared to approach her because two pairs of eyes would glare menacingly if they even glanced her way. Axel and July were like wolves guarding their pup.

July was wearing some form-fitting purple velvet sweat pants and a low-cut black top that looked like an abstract piece of art: it had white splatters of ink all over it in no particular order. It revealed her navel and perfectly sculpted abdomen. She received more than a few stares.

However, Karla had most definitely stolen eh show. She wore the classic denim mini-skirt and a low cut white blouse. She wore her hair down in waves around her face and her chocolate eyes glistened with the influence of Alcohol. She sat at a booth all her own with five wannabe suitors all flirting with her in the vain effort of taking her home for the night. Sean couldn't help but glare at the men around the girl twitching irritably as some of them inched closer to her. But she held her own never letting any hand get past her defenses.

"Remember boys," Karla drawled out holding up a shard butterfly knife, "I don't mind stabbing a few hands to keep you all in line."

Everyone backed off. In the end Sean couldn't help himself and he strode over to her booth stepping over the other suitors sitting himself down next to the beautiful girl. He grabbed her chin and leaned in kissing her aggressively. The butterfly knife fell from Karla's fingers and she twined her fingers in Sean's hair kissing back with equal gusto.

Groans and swearing erupted from the wannabe suitors as they stomped off angrily.

"Whoo! Go Sean! You're the man!" DJ and Axel called out together.

July rolled her eyes while smiling. "Men… Geez."

After all the commotion over Sean and Karla had passed Axel held out a hand to Charlie. "Care to dance?"

The girl took Axel's hand daintily and gracefully skipped onto the dance floor. She was like a cloud; a happy little cloud.

July watched enviously as Axel danced with her romantic interest.

"Why don't you say something?" DJ was suddenly sitting beside her in the booth bent over the table with a beer in one hand.

"It'd be too complicated."

"Admittedly you chose one hard nut to crack. Charlie is an endless mystery."

July sighed her agreement sadly. She looked so broken hearted that DJ wanted to hug her.

"Hey, why don't we dance?"

The girl looked up at the black eyes and smiled. "Sure, you're cute enough."

DJ smirked and led July onto the dance floor.

They danced to up-beat electronic music for a good hour before a slow-dance song finally came on. By now Sean and Karla had joined the gang on the dance floor. The couples pulled closer to each other to dance the ballad.

Axel was a lot taller than Charlie, so as they danced she smiled up at him following his movement expertly. They moved this way and that to the rhythm of the music and Axel felt his heart stop when a small pale hand reached up to cup his cheek and another gently pulled him forward by his forearm; before he could register it all, Charlie's lips were pressed to his in a chaste kiss. It lasted only a few seconds and was over just as abruptly as it had begun. Charlie stood smiling up at him still holding his hand. Somehow, she wasn't blushing.

No one but DJ knew July had quickly dismissed herself to the lady's washroom.

"Charlie?" Axel finally asked.

The girl led him off the dance floor and outside into the warm night air.

"Isn't that what people do when they want to let the other one know they care?" Charlie asked distractedly as she watched the stars. She was still holding Axel's hand gently.

"Well… Yeah, but… I never thought you… I don't know if… I, uh… Wow?" Axel stumbled over his words clumsily.

Charlie turned to Axel with her bottomless eyes. "Are you alright?"

Axel had to think about that. Was he alright? He was still too flustered. He didn't know how he felt. No one had ever done that before, but that was beside the point. It wasn't just ANYONE who had done it… It had been Charlie. The girl who could easily be mistaken for his little sister; the girl who he could only think to protect ferociously if it meant his life to do so, that girl named Charlie.

Axel's hesitation was all Charlie needed to understand. "It's alright. I care about you, and the only thing I would like is to see you happy. Don't worry anymore."

The red-head relaxed. "I'm not worried," He cared about Charlie too. Everything else was minor. Axel pulled Charlie's hand gently to bring her towards him and against his chest. He stooped down and touched his lips to hers once more. It was chaste. Charlie slid her eyes closed and wrapped her small arms around Axel's neck.

The night was warm and silent with the moon and the stars lighting up the sky. It was a beautiful night of confessions, love and heart-break.

Somewhere in the back of Axel's mind, Roxas sank into the abyss of his priorities.

* * *

HAHA! Check it out!! Longest chapter ever!

Hope you liked!

Creep-stats!


	10. Flare

All outta Luck

Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own KH or anything related to Square Enix or Disney.

* * *

The next Sunday was the secret Santa gift exchange. Despite all the insanity on Friday, everyone was in good spirits; although July wasn't as energetic as usual.

"Who's going first then?" asked Axel leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees.

Silence ensues all around until DJ picked up the little brown paper bag beside him and handing it to Charlie.

The small girl took it gently and opened it to pull out a little bouquet of origami flowers.

"Since you like flowers so much, I figured I'd go ahead and make some for you that would last."

Charlie was pleased as punch and she hugged DJ to thank him. Then she took out a little checkered cloth bag and handed it to Sean. The ex-caveman took it and pulled at the blue lace holding the bag closed. The cloth fell away to reveal a bite-sized teddy bear made from the same cloth as the bag. It had little black embroidered eyes and a blue bow at its neck.

"Heh, cute." Sean said as he passed it around for everyone to see.

"Now that's real talent!" July said honestly as the bear was passed to her.

"It's so cute!" Karla squealed.

"Well, it's my turn." Sean said picking up a freshly picked rose from the garden and handing it to Karla.

"This is cheesy," Karla said with a broad smile, "but I love it."

Next Karla gave her gift to Axel. It was wrapped in the funny comics from the newspaper. He appreciated the Garfield, Peanuts and For Better or For Worse funnies before opening the package to pull out a knitted hat. It was orange and red descending in a star pattern down to the rim.

"This is amazing!" Axel exclaimed as he pulled it over his spiky locks of hair. "I can't believe you took the time out of your day to make this."

"I like to knit, and I make my own hats all the time. I'm glad you like it."

Axel then brought out his gift for July. He handed her an unwrapped shoe box.

"I thought we weren't allowed to buy anything for each other." July accused.

"It's not a pair of shoes. Open it." Axel instructed while rolling his eyes.

July did as told and pulled out a little person make from welded cutlery. The person had a spoon for a head. He was a little surfer with sun glasses, dread locks balancing on a surf board.

"Hey, this is really cool! How'd you manage to make it?"

"I asked Carl if they had the tools necessary in the shed. Seeing as there are maintenance people about and old cutlery that was being thrown out, I took advantage and put it together. It used to be a hobby of mine back home."

And the group sat chatting together for a while until Axel was interrupted by a short tap on his shoulder. The red-head turned to face Roxas looking in another direction.

"Mind if I talk to you?" Roxas said quietly.

Axel gestured to everyone indicating them to wait a while. "I'll be back guys."

Roxas led Axel away from the group and into the basketball court out of ear shot and out of sight.

"Yeah, so what's up?" Axel said irritated.

Roxas bristled at his tone. "It's about what you said…"

"Oh, that. Yeah, I thought it over. Forget I said anything. Now, if you'll excuse me-

"Jerk! Listen to me at least!" Roxas shouted grabbing Axel by the scruff of his shirt.

"Good! I'm overjoyed you changed your mind. That's what I _wanted_ you to do. I was even thinking of apologizing for being insensitive, but now I don't think I will!"

He thrust Axel backwards away from him. This was somehow much more personal than it should have been. Why were both their tempers flaring?

The physical insult was enough to set Axel on fire. He grabbed Roxas by the shoulder and hit him with a right hook. The boy flew backwards but regained his footing and charged forward ducking under the next hook flying at him and elbowed Axel hard in the ribs causing him to stagger sideways clutching his side.

Roxas had a little trickle of blood run down the side of his mouth and Axel was having trouble breathing properly.

The two stood glaring each other down.

"Break it up you two!" Came a familiar voice.

Axel turned to see Larson running in their direction with wide gestures over his head. "Stop this now!" He shouted.

Both boys relaxed their stances. Axel's blood was still boiling. A part of him was smugly satisfied however. Roxas was going to be bruised and in pain tomorrow.

"You don't hit models in the face Axel! That's a one-way ticket to ruin in Roxas's career! Are you thick?!" Larson demanded.

Axel said nothing. Roxas simply turned on his heel and made his way back to the manor.

"This is a warning Axel. Don't do this again or you'll be out of here in before you know it." Larson's expression was stern.

Axel turned to go back to the group and forced himself to walk straight without flinching. Roxas might have been small and boney, but he could pack some brute force when he needed to.

* * *

Ok, to be honest I got nothing else to add here. So over and out for now. I'll see where this will lead later. I'm not quite sure, but I want to integrate more of Farrar, Kareena, Carl and Larson. Too many characters!

Creep Stats


	11. You Wish You Had

All Outta Luck

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own anything KH

* * *

The steam filled the room making it humid and misty. Farrar lay in the tub smoking a Cuban cigar as he weighed the gains and losses from this little adventure. So far all the modeling branches were turning down his submissions due to the heavy competition. Farrar had opened Clandestine modeling out of a passion for the physical aesthetic of the human body. He believed that there was beauty to be beheld in any person and should be shared with the world. He chose the name specifically to emphasize his work with small towns where talent and beauty lay hidden in the most unexpected places. But his models were different than the mainstream model population. They were exotic and maybe unorthodox compared to America's best. Farrar had brought these kids out with the goal of starting them in the right direction of a successful career, and he refused to let his efforts go to waste. It was time for some changes. Farrar clicked the intercom on the wall behind him connecting him to Kareena's room.

"Yes sir?"

"I need new ideas. Organize a board meeting with the supervisors and designers. We're having a fashion show."

* * *

Roxas pulled himself up to his knees and let himself fall back once more. He felt weak and dizzy but refused to stop. He could make it through the day, he'd done it before. Even though he'd only eaten an apple for breakfast with a strawberry shake. He'd gotten done with his classes and followed up with exercise. Despite Roxas' size, he was quite strong due to the daily training. However, he was obsessed with his weight. It was an obsession he had since he first became a model. He hated himself for it feeling like he had lost an essential part of being a man to the world of modeling. However, this world provided for him. The life of a model was rewarding in the way that a reputation for good looks made it easier to get around in the more private and high-class joys of life without being bogged down by obsessive hordes of fans who all knew his name.

However, Roxas felt like the life of a model didn't allow for much else. He knew it wouldn't last forever. A few more years with his contract and he'd be free to go out and explore other opportunities: travel, and maybe even do a little acting or singing. A little secret he kept to himself was that he wasn't a bad singer. Despite it being a talent, he felt sheepish about it. However, if life allowed him to go in that direction, he might not mind trying. Roxas had ambitions and he intended to fulfill them.

Roxas opened his eyes and the images of his dreams disappeared as he realized he was lying in the nursery with a copper-haired girl sitting next to him reading a book.

"Huh?" It made no sense. He had been doing pull-ups in the gym. Why was he here?

"Oh, hey. I found you passed out in the gym and dragged you here." The girl said with a grin.

Oh great. He'd passed out again. Kareena would be on him about it as soon as she found out. He really needed to eat more, but after starving himself for so long his stomach had shrunk considerably.

"Thanks, and sorry for the trouble," She had said she'd dragged him after all.

"I'm July. I remember you."

It seemed everyone remembered him.

"You're Roxas, right?"

The boy nodded.

"Actually, I'm glad I ran into you. I wanted to thank you for kicking Axel's ass the other day."

"Huh?"

"He was cringing for the rest of the day after your fight with him."

"Why is this a good thing for you?"

"I have my reasons to dislike him."

Roxas tried to read her expression and gave up. "Well, you're welcome I guess." Secretly Roxas was overjoyed to know he had effectively given Axel a run for his money. The ass deserved what he got. Of course Roxas hadn't gotten off scot free. He still had the remnants of a bruise on his jaw which meant he wouldn't be having another photo shoot until he healed up.

"Well, I'll leave you to getting better. I have to run."

"Sure. I'll see you around, right?" She seemed friendly enough, so why not befriend her? Plus, they had a common enemy.

July grabbed the notepad and pen on the nightstand next to the bed writing something down, ripped it off and handed it to Roxas.

"Here's my cell number. Anytime you would like to hang out let me know."

"Great, thanks."

And with that July left the room. Roxas heaved a sigh and flung his feet over the side of the bed. He might as well get some food.

* * *

Larson sat polishing his shoes on the bed while Carl lay watching TV under the covers.

"Do you ever feel restricted in this lifestyle?" Larson asked distractedly.

Carl looked away from the TV at his lover's back. "Why are you asking?"

"I want to go places, Carl. I can't stand being cooped up in this manor for much longer. I want the big bustling city. I want Broadway and energy. It's so dead here, and so confined. I want more than this… These walls restrict my creativity and my passion. You understand, don't you?" Larson asked turning back to meet his gaze with Carl's. Carl reached out and cupped his lover's cheek knowingly. He nodded.

"I promise that we'll get out of here once these young models are out of our hair."

"You really care about them, don't you?"

Carl let his hand fall on Larson's and smiled. "I had dreams too, you know. I know what its like to strive for a life with no one there to hold your hand. I want these kids to make it. Even if they end up using modeling as a stepping stone into the greater picture of life, I want to at least make sure that they get off on the right foot. I love these kids like they're my own Lars."

Larson smiled sadly. "I know how much you want a family, and I know we're not the youngest couple, but once we're out of here maybe we can seriously sit down and contemplate adoption."

"But the imbalance will always be there. The child will need a mother figure."

"We have close friends who wouldn't mind playing that part. If anyone can raise a child in a good household, it's us."

Carl squeezed Larson's hand gently and pulled him into a hug.

* * *

The announcement came as a pleasant surprise. There was going to be a fashion show where there would surely be scouts and plenty of cameras. This was a chance to get everyone's names out in the open. It meant a lot of time investment and money, but everyone trusted Farrar.

Various designs by well-known names sold Clandestine Modeling the rights to use their clothes and promote their brands. Big brand names showed up, and this was all the more promising for the up and coming modeling generation.

Everyone was scheduled with their respective dressers to decide which outfits would be used for the show. In total there were thirty models, and generally each was assigned to model ten different outfits.

The next couple of weeks were hectic with the preparations. Dressers running around making sure their charges had their outfits, models trying on hundreds of fashion items and accessories. Mixing and matching items, and keeping all their respective prices in order. Farrar was constantly on the phone and leaving the premises to arrange the stage in a hot-spot show room down town California. Sponsors were called on and promoted in turn.

A stage was set up, dressing rooms in order, lights, etc. Most importantly, the media was invited; paparazzi, fashion channels and the like. The whole cavalry was going to be there.

As the date of the show drew ever near tensions blazed. July and Axel were always fighting. No one except DJ knew why. Axel also awoke every day to discover some new atrocity had been committed. His gym locker had been forced open and his towel and flip-flops for the communal shower had been discovered hanging from a tree in the courtyard. Another time he came out of the shower with bleach blond hair and was forced to dye it back to his natural color. Another time his sun block was replaced with high power sun tan lotion that worked to perfection after a long day running the track and working out outdoors. Thanks to his ridiculous tan he would have to be body brushed for the fashion show. Each of these scenarios was signed by a mysterious evil-doer who Axel vowed to find and kill.

Roxas wasn't making it any better either. The blonde managed to avoid any contact with him at all. Somehow he'd managed to work his schedule around Axel completely. It pissed Axel off to no end, and to top it all off he never did get to see Charlie with how busy everything always was. It was utterly ridiculous. Who knew a model's life could still be dramatic? Axel had always associated modeling with Barbies: Plastic and hollow.

Axel's only consolation was his buddy Sean. Sean was always there to listen to him rant. Even though he'd laughed heartily at all of Axel's recent misfortune, he had offered sympathy and promised to help find the culprit and beat them down.

* * *

By the end of the two weeks everyone was hyped, yet exhausted. Everyone had been working extra hard to keep in shape, or improve their shape. All dressers were running around making sure they had everything in order. The only reason everything was seen through from beginning to end was thanks to Farrar and Kareena's joint efforts.

The time finally rolled around and it was Cat Walk day at long last. Models chatted excitedly in their shared dressing rooms with their dressers doing their hair and make-up. It was still a few three hours before the event would open its doors and begin the exhibition, so last minute tweaks and preparations were seen to. The lights were tested, the sound system and all technical things that needed tending to. The models all had their order memorized depending on the genre of clothing they were modeling: Fancy, casual, cool, fun, and flat out crazy. There were even top hats and large colored feathers. It was going to be some kind of show. The outfits were on sale along with all the accessories. There were some particularly interesting outfits that would no doubt become a collector's item.

Roxas HATED fashion shows. As long as he'd modeled he had never gotten used to all the movement around him. He hated large crowds in small spaces and he hated how disorganized it felt. He was in a room filled with other young male models with his dressers fussing over him making sure not one hair was out of place. They managed to make it look like his messy hair wasn't an accident.

The boy massaged his temples impatiently only wanting the madness to end. People were shouting over other people for accessories, clothes and what ever the hell else they needed. Roxas found his mood dwindling ever further until he smacked his dresser's hand away, stood up and excused himself saying he needed air. He trudged out of the bustling changing room and forced his way through the throng of models and dressers to the exit where Kareena stood. She looked down at him expecting an explanation. Roxas just looked up at her pleadingly and she shook her head in disapproval, but she moved to let him through all the same. She raised both hands extending all ten fingers to indicate how long he had to get back. Roxas nodded and left the room heading for the exit to sit in the parking lot.

He felt better instantly. The quiet sincerity of the empty parking lot was heaven. He relaxed and let his mind wander. Inevitably his first thought involved red hair and green eyes. The boy heaved a sigh knowing from his last week of experience that trying to push the thoughts from his mind was futile. He'd found out from July that Axel was going out with Charlie. He couldn't help chuckling to himself about it. They seemed like such an odd couple. One part of him was relieved: he didn't have to tell Axel about his past encounters. He didn't have to go back into all the details about his life and why he'd said no. But on the other hand it irked him. Not even a week after Axel had told him he'd liked him he got a girlfriend. Axel was most certainly a player.

Roxas realized that his ten minutes were almost up and pushed off the wall to stretch and yawn before reluctantly returning to the chaos within.

* * *

Time flies when you're in a small area with crazy people. At least, that's what Axel felt. No sooner had he arrived and sat down had Farrar stepped out to the stage to introduce himself and the event. Kareena stood by announcing the different fashions being strut out on stage. It started with casual every-day wear for all kinds of people. Designer jeans, denim skirts, wife-beaters, hoodies, tukes, wristbands, necklaces, semi-formal skirts and pants all came on stage and left modeled by gorgeous people. The crowd ooed and ahed and applauded. The media was there in the front row filming everything. Scouts were undoubtedly among the crowd while the rest were common standers by, artists looking for ideas, other designers, photographers, journalists, and collectors.

The music blared out in techno dance music to keep the enthusiasm alive for the whole show. Models rushed back and forth back stage going on stage and coming back to quickly get changed.

Axel: He loved the attention, and he loved the energy. He wasn't so fond of the chaos, but it was a minor annoyance.

Sean: Just went with it. He was just glad he got to model a Star Wars costume at the end.

Charlie: It was fun. She liked the frilly dresses she got to wear. Oh, the lights were pretty too.

Karla: She loved everything about it. She knew the crowd loved her and she loved the attention.

July: She was all business about it. She did what she needed to do without thinking too much. It wasn't a matter of enjoying it so much or not. Her mind was more focused on the next evil prank she'd pull on Axel. The bleach in his shampoo was her favorite so far.

DJ: He was chill about it. Admittedly getting in and out of some of the outfits was awkward. He'd fallen over trying to put on some "strategically" ripped jeans when his foot got stuck in one of the tears and he lost balance falling on his dresser and knocking him unconscious somehow.

Roxas: Stressed.

Farrar: Pleased and hopeful. He couldn't wait to see the requests pile in for the names of the models.

Kareena: She did her job and she did it right. She was always keeping an eye on everything making sure everything was on time and in the right order.

Larson: Too busy fussing over Axel to care about anything else.

Carl: Fanning himself in a corner complaining about how hot it was. He secretly loved watching Lars and Axel argue with each other about accessories and body-brushing.

* * *

"Wow… I'm exhausted." Sean said plopping himself on the couch next to Karla with his arm around her shoulders. His hair was still wet from the shower he'd just taken.

Charlie sat in arm chair playing scrabble with July and DJ.

"I loved how you had to dress like Luke Skywalker at the end," DJ said with a smirk.

"Man, you're just jealous because it was THAT awesome."

DJ ignored him and spelled out "swallow" on the board horizontally using July's last letter addition.

"So, anyone know where Axel is?" Sean asked.

"Who cares?" July retorted.

A silent pause, "You've really been ragging on him lately. What's up with you two?"

"Nonya."

"Say what?"

"Nonya business."

Sean fell silent and looked to Karla questioningly, but she just shrugged and shook her head.

"Well, anyway, he should get down here so we can go get a few drinks before we all turn in for the day. I wonder what he's up to?"

* * *

They stared… And they stared some more. That was all they could do. Neither said anything, all they knew was that this was not going to end well.

Axel was lying under Roxas under a heap of clothes racks, clothing and hangers. They were trapped. How did they get here?

Skit:

Axel was helping put all the clothes up on the racks organizing them by brand when Roxas walked in to deliver his own clothes.

Roxas sees Axel and walks around him. Axel grabs his shoulder and Roxas wheels around and starts to talk. He says something stupid and Roxas pushes Axel back against the wall hard. Axel hits his head and passes out. Roxas freaks out and kneels down to check the damage without noticing that the racks were swaying dangerously. 3…2…1… Timber.

Back to present:

Why oh why was fate such a bitch? Why?

Roxas tried to shift out from the wreckage, but stopped when he felt the danger of more potential weight.

The good news was that this wouldn't last long. Someone would be along any minute to deliver another outfit or see how things were going. The bad news was that everything would have to be reorganized. The worst news was the obvious: They were stuck in a compromising position simply glaring at each other with their noses nearly touching.

Axel couldn't help himself. He had to look at the situation from a third person point of view, and he started to laugh. Of all the possible outcomes, this had to be the most hilarious. He was stuck under Roxas under a pile of fashion accessories and shelving with a head ache. No matter how he looked at it, it was funny.

"You're optimistic…" Roxas grumbled.

"C'mon! Look at us!" Axel said through his laughter, "Just think about this for a moment and see where I'm coming from."

Roxas paused and thought about it. That was all it took, and the next thing he knew he was laughing too.

"Oh my God! What happened in here?! Who's under there? Are you alright?"

They only laughed harder.

"Don't worry, we'll get you out of there in no time. Just hold on."

And soon they were free. Both boys made peace with each other and helped carry everything into the photo studio and organized it by brands again. By the time they were done it was 11 PM. Everyone had already hit the sack.

"Hey Axel, umm… Are you feeling okay?"

The red head quirked a brow in confusion, "Oh, you mean my head? Yeah, don't worry about it. It hurts, and I'm gonna wake up with a bruise for certain, but I'm fine."

"Hey… I'm… I'm really sorry. Y'know, for everything; I've been a prick."

Axel scratched the back of his head looking anywhere but at the blond, "Yeah, me too."

Roxas turned to Axel holding out a hand, "Friends?"

Axel grinned and shook the offered hand.

"So, how are things with Charlie?"

"Huh, how do you know about that?"

"I have my sources." Roxas said with a wide smile.

"You will tell me eventually, but until then: things are good."

"Oh, c'mon, we're guys. What about all the intrinsic details?"

"Man! Don't put that kind of stuff in my head right now. I'm just barely accepting the fact that we kissed."

"Kissed, huh? How was it?"

"You're just as bad as a high school girl."

Roxas laughed, but deep, deep down he was incredibly unhappy.

"Anyway, it's been a long day. I'll walk ya to your room and then I'm going to bed."

"Sure."

That night Roxas couldn't help but fantasize about Axel. He remembered being so close to him. He remembered feeling his chest under his and feeling his breath on his face. He flushed and pulled the covers over his head pleading for sleep to take him. But even then he had no reprieve. His fantasies followed him into unconsciousness. Red hair and emerald eyes looked at him fondly and warm hands held his gently. Thin lips came ever near…

The next morning Roxas woke up cursing himself. Why in the hell had he turned Axel down?!

* * *

Aha! Yeah, here's the next chapter. :D


	12. A Very Bad Day

All Outta Luck

Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own KH or KH2 or anything associated with Square Enix.

* * *

Axel awoke with a jolt and a loud _crack_ from his spine. He doubled over with his hand on his back moaning. He'd had a particularly terrifying nightmare involving Carl and Larson after him with a giant pair of sheers. He wiped the sweat from his brow and cursed his dressers under his breath. He attempted to straighten his back with another loud crack and felt tears prick in his eyes. Why did he feel like this was going to be a miserable day?

It was a day off though, and that meant that at long last Axel could take Charlie out on a date. All was not lost. The redhead dragged himself out of bed with a groan and stretched the kink out of his back as best he could. For the first hour while he got ready he couldn't stand straight. When Sean finally awoke he laughed at his roommate's expense. However, upon noticing how much pain he was in, Sean gave him a massage that finally healed him completely.

Feeling better, Axel thanked the former caveman and left his room on a mission to get flowers for Charlie to ask her on a date. He went to the main desk to find no one around and tapped the little bell to get the attendant's attention. However, no sound came from it; the bell was a dud.

"Excuse me, I need a cab to go into town. Is anyone here?" He called out. Again there came no reply. Axel decidedly let himself in behind the desk and spotted a yellow post it note with the taxi number on it. He dialled and a gruff voice came on the other end. When Axel asked for a cab, the voice dismissed him immediately saying that all the cabs were currently out. He didn't know when the next one might pull in. The red head hung up fuming. He ducked under the reception desk and headed out to the parking lot. He was then was greeted by a kind gardener. The man motioned towards his old bike offering it as a lender. Axel knew full well that it would be a long and hard ride, but he figured the exercise couldn't hurt. He thanked the gardener and headed out with a water bottle, sunscreen and a cap. He skin was still dark from his prankster's last hit and run.

He arrived in town without event and walked into the supermarket buying a simple bouquet of flowers and headed out. Just as he was stepping into the parking lot a car zoomed by and the obnoxious passenger swiped the bouquet right under Axel's nose. The red head ran after the vehicle in vain cursing loudly. Everyone in the vicinity turned to look at him. When he realized this he blushed and scratched his head sheepishly lowering his eyes to the ground. He gathered what was left of his dignity and returned inside to buy yet another bouquet. This time he kept it close to him and safe from any other crazy passers-by.

Axel went to remount the bike to find it was gone. He hadn't padlocked it because he didn't have one.

"Shit, damn, fuck!" He screamed. "The fucking bike!"

He pulled at his red tresses and then punched the wall earning himself a loud crack.

It wasn't from the wall.

He cursed some more as he realized he'd scraped the skin clean off his bone and he was pretty sure that his knuckle was cracked.

"My hand!" He hissed through clenched teeth putting the bouquet down tenderly and then holding his wrist inspecting the damage. An older lady came over looking worried. She saw Axel's bloodied knuckle and immediately offered him a ride to the hospital. Axel obliged, thankful that he had insurance. Two hours later he was out of the hospital with a bandaged right hand and the certainty of a fractured knuckle. What a fucking lovely day it was turning out to be.

The older woman had dropped him off and thought her job was done. When Axel went to look for her she was gone. He cursed again. He needed a ride home. He re-entered the hospital and asked for a cab. When they called they were greeted with the same answer from earlier that day: There were no cabs. At least he still had the bouquet. That was his consolation. He would get back eventually and Charlie would make him feel better.

"Okay, fine. I'll take the bus. Would you mind googling the best route to Clandestine Modelling mansion?" He asked the nurse at the front desk. She did so and printed out the page for him. He thanked her and followed the instructions on the paper. He had to take four different buses. On the fourth a drunken man sat next to him flirting and attempting to grope him. Axel politely told him to screw off.

"I'm having a shitty day, so please don't make me take it out on you." He seethed. The drunkard looked taken aback and went into a quick rage. Luckily the bus driver stopped the vehicle and threw the rowdy passenger off. Axel sighed and was all too relieved when he saw the entrance to the mansion. He dismounted the bus thanking the driver for saving him earlier. His spirits improved, that is, until he walked through the gates to see boxers flung all over the telephone cables, tangled in branches and some being unceremoniously thrown about by other teenagers. He recognized every pair. They were all HIS. Axel felt his legs turn to spaghetti under him. But rage soon fuelled his veins and he went snatching back all his unmentionables. He climbed walls, trees, thrashed anyone who was holding a pair. There were thirteen in total. He managed all this even with his bandaged hand. On the last pair he had to climb a particularly high ledge to reach his boxers hanging from a tree branch by the wall. He reached out carefully.

"Slowly…slowly….there…"

"HEY AXEL!" suddenly was shouted out behind him through the nearest window. The redhead was startled and lost his balance. He snatched his boxers in the process, but plummeted down to the bushes below. The last thing he saw were pointy thorns before he blacked out.

The redhead's eyes opened to see a white room swimming into focus. He was in the nursery no doubt. Then pain flooded his clouded mind.

"My head…" he groaned.

"Hey man, how're you feeling?" A voice came from beside him. Axel looked over to see DJ with a grey took looking down at him through black eyes in concern.

"Like someone who just fell into a thorn bush."

DJ flinched. "Sorry man."

"Who the hell was behind me at the window?" Axel asked vehemently.

"Just some girl who became a recent fan of yours. She saw you and didn't think twice before calling out your name. I was conveniently nearby. I carried you here."

"Thanks. So, what's the damage?"

"Take a look at your arms…"

Axel did. The skin was all ripped and torn. There was hardly any smooth skin to behold that didn't have coagulated blood on it. "Shit."

"Now imagine all that on your face. That and it looks like you dislocated your shoulder and sprained your wrist."

"Well whoopdee fuckin doo." Axel said exasperated.

"Look, your shoulder has been pushed back into place already. You'll probably feel some pain from time to time, but the rest of you seems fine. You don't have a concussion, so you can get up and out of here at any time. "

Axel sat up, but was greeted by a booming headache. DJ slid his arm under his shoulders to support him. He said nothing as he helped Axel out of the nursery.

"What about all my unmentionables?" Axel asked suddenly.

DJ grabbed a plastic bag sitting by the door with everything inside. Including the bouquet. Axel sighed. "Thanks again. I can walk from here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry."

Just then Charlie came skipping by. She immediately noticed the two boys and came over. When she got close enough to Axel, her eyes widened.

"Why were you bleeding?"

Axel sweat dropped at the question. "It's nothing. I fell into a thorn bush. I'm fine though."

"Oh. That doesn't sound fun at all."

"It wasn't." Then Axel remembered the flowers. He took them out of the plastic bag and presented them to Charlie with a grin. "Here! These are for you."

Charlie whirled around looking very pleased. She took the flowers and smelled them. "Thank you! They're so colourful and pretty."

"I'm glad you like them. So, I was thinking about going on a date today, but I'm not feeling so great, so how about tomorrow? Just you and I as a couple?"

Charlie looked up through long lashes and smiled. "I don't like you that way…" She said with her far off voice. "But I like being your friend. So, let's go tomorrow as friends instead." With that she pranced off humming to herself.

Privately, Axel thought to himself: "_My soul_…"

At that moment all the pain came rushing back to him. The barrier holding back his emotions broke in that instant. He felt all his strength leave him and his knees almost buckled beneath him.

DJ placed a hand on his shoulder. "Would you like me to get you a drink? I can keep you company for a while…"

Deep down Axel wanted to say yes, but he didn't want to be a burden. "Nah man, it's fine." He grinned and stood up as straight as the pain would allow him to. "Thanks for all your help."

DJ didn't look convinced, but he turned to leave patting Axel on the back before he did. The red head turned and limped down the hallway all the way to the stairs. He looked up at them with a sense of impending doom. He let out a small sob and lugged himself upwards. When he arrived at the first landing he gave up. His eyes immediately flicked to a door on his right. At that moment all he knew was that he wanted to see Roxas. He dragged himself to the door supporting himself by the doorway and knocked.

Roxas opened the door and felt a great dark aura swirling outside. His eyes landed on Axel's scratched face, his sunken eyes. He looked pale and gaunt, like a zombie.

"Mind if I come in?" He droned out.

Roxas immediately moved to let Axel through. "I'll get you a chair," he turned to get one, "And I'll make you some tea." As soon as he turned back he saw Axel letting himself fall face first on the bed. The red head kicked off his shoes and dragged them onto the bed too. He lay on his stomach with the plastic bag hanging off his wrist over the side.

"Or not…" Roxas muttered and closed the door. He headed over to Axel in concern and sat beside him. "What happened to you?"

All was silent for a moment before he shook the bag off his wrist and flipped over on his back with his arms spread on either side of him. He looked awful.

"I lost the gardener's bike, I had a bouquet stolen from me, I fractured my knuckle, I had to take public transport, my boxers were all over the place and I fell into a thorn bush." He said it all in one breath. Then he added, "And Charlie broke up with me."

"Whoa, okay, start from the beginning." Roxas urged. And Axel did. He recounted the day's events and by the end he had angry tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that. Why didn't you tell Charlie?"

"I didn't want her to worry."

"You're ridiculous. You should have told her about your day and she may have thought twice about blowing you off like that."

"It's Charlie we're talking about. She doesn't think like normal people. I'm not angry at her… I just wish that today hadn't been so shitty."

Roxas pulled al his courage into his chest and hugged Axel in as manly a way as he could. He tried to be gentle about it too. The red head stiffened, but then let his forehead rest on the blonde's shoulder. He sighed without moving.

"Take your time. I don't mind." Roxas urged. He let his arms fall back to his sides and let Axel keep his head rested on his shoulder.

"Thanks Rox."

After a while Roxas noticed that Axel's breathing had slowed. When he checked, he found that he had fallen asleep. The blonde gave the sleeping form a sympathetic look and laid him back on the bed. Roxas watched the sleeping face thoughtfully. He couldn't help the magnetism. He was drawn in by Axel's aura. It was as though he was under a spell as he leaned down until he could feel his friend's gentle breathing on his face. With his eyes half open in a trance, Roxas left little more than a centimetre between his face and Axel's.

The spell broke. Roxas pulled back quickly and stood from the bed brushing off imaginary dirt from his shirt and wringing his hands. He was such an idiot. He looked around the room for something to do. Anything. He soon found his game console on the floor and turned it on without making any noise. He put the TV on mute and played away his frustration. He also made a mental note to track July down and beseech her to leave Axel alone. She owed him an apology after what he'd gone through that day, and Roxas would see that she'd make amends.


	13. You Take Care of Him!

All Outta Luck

Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own KH or any related Square Enix material.

"I did call you here to give you good news, but now…"

Farrar looked Axel over again with both brows raised in a way that said: 'I disapprove, but at the same time I can't help being amused. '

"But now?" Axel sighed slouching helplessly in the chair Farrar had provided.

"Well, you're rather worse for wear," Axel glared at Farrar Half-heartedly, "No pun intended."

"What now?"

"Yes indeed, what. Well first thing's first, you must tend to yourself responsibly. Keep your cuts clean. Put healing cream on them at all times. And most of all, steer clear of tall building ledges."

Axel groaned. "I was offered a job, wasn't I? And now I can't do it because of this. You guys got technology, why don't we just photo shop my skin to make it smooth?"

"There's a limit to how much we can digitalize photos. It's not modelling anymore if the computer is the thing making you look flawless."

Axel quirked a cynical brow, and Farrar furrowed his own. "Alright, there are many cheaters in this business, but real modelling is about taking people who are already gorgeous and making them into true art with the use of props."

"And Photo shop _isn't_ a prop?"

Farrar gave Axel a withering look that sent the red head into reflexive silence.

At last he heaved a sigh. "So is there no way for them to save a spot for me?"

"Some of them were very impressed with you, and some of them will wait, but it wont be long before some other prize comes along. I've mentioned before the competitiveness of the business, have I not?"

Axel nodded solemnly, and Farrar sat across from him at his desk. "Look at it this way, they know your face and your name now. That's always a step in the right direction."

Axel left the meeting with Farrar feeling like he was ready to murder whomever it was that had the nerve to get all his undergarments and throw them unceremoniously over the grounds.

"Hey there!"

Axel turned around to see copper hair, hazel green eyes and a grin. July. Wait, what? Since when had she decided to talk to him again? Chicks… Honestly. They made no sense to him. He quirked a brow at her in lieu of asking what she wanted.

July stood with her hands grasped behind her back as she teetered back and forth from her heels to the balls of her feet looking anywhere but straight ahead.

"I need to tell you a few things…" She began, "You see, I was acting weird before because you were going out with Charlie. I was… well, you know. Anyway, because of that, it made me do stupid things…" She paused now twitching and swinging faster bringing her hands out form behind her and wringing them nervously, "Stupid things like… well…" She stopped moving altogether and took a deep breath staring intently at the ground, "like throwing your boxers out the window." She said it like it was all one long word with her face flushing a deep crimson.

Axel said nothing, and July looked up flinching. Axel inhaled sharply, squared his shoulders, met July's eyes for only a second with his emeralds burning her to her core, and… he walked away.

He strode back to the mansion intent on doing anything that might take his mind off wanting to potentially kill the girl. The only reason he didn't blow up was because she said she'd been jealous of Charlie. If she liked him that much, then he couldn't very well be the ass he wanted to be. But were it not for her little prank, he would have a job.

As Axel was fantasizing about his gruesome revenge, he ran into a pole. Or, at least he'd thought it as a pole until it spoke.

"Whoa there, you alright?"

Without looking up Axel waved off the offense. "Fine, just fine. Sorry, not paying attention." He then looked up to find a tanned face with brown eyes. He was good-looking, tall, toned. No doubt a model.

When the stranger met Axel's eyes, his own eyes widened and a grin overcame his features. "You must be a model here."

"Yeah, you too, huh?"

"Actually no. I'm here as an interested party. I'm here to sponsor a few models to help them get started in their careers."

"Hi, I'm Axel, and I'm extremely good-looking and in need of a sponsor," He said holding out his hand then remembering his cuts, "Ignore those." And he gave the stranger what he hoped was a winning grin.

"Vincente Carrazo, and it's a pleasure. You may call me Vince." He took Axel's hand with both of his. "What do you say you show me around?" Axel noticed he spoke with a Latin accent.

"Yeah, sure. I needed something to do anyhow."

"Good man."

Axel was going to move, but Vince still had his hand. He cleared his throat.

"Ahem… Uh, my hand…?"

"Oh! Of course!" He finally released Axel's hand, "Please, lead the way."

The two went around the whole place and Axel explained what each of the buildings was for. He introduced a few fellow models in hopes of one: maybe getting them jobs, and more importantly, two: diverting his attention. It was all too clear that Vince was smitten.

"Well, that's the works. There's not much else to see that needs a guide. You can pretty much roam around on your own from here." Axel said once they were back in the lobby of the mansion.

"Yes, of course. Thank you for your time. Perhaps one of these nights we could go get a drink. Invite some of your friends so I can acquaint myself with them."

"Sure, anytime."

"Then how about this week end?"

"Uh, sure…"

"Saturday then. I'll meet you at the bar on site at eight."

"Sure. Pleasure meeting you." Axel said this as smoothly as he could. Even though he wasn't necessarily pleased with being hit on, he did admit that Vince was a trump card. If he could stay on his good side, he might be able to get him to sponsor the whole gang.

Vince held out a hand for a shake, which Axel took and was shocked when the Latino came in and kissed him on the cheek. He stood smiling like nothing had happened, but upon seeing Axel's expression his eyes widened. "Oh, I have forgotten myself. Forgive me, where I am from we say good bye like this."

Axel swallowed every sarcastic remark that surfaced in his mind and smiled dismissively. "Not at all."

"Saturday then." Vince confirmed letting Axel's hand go once more.

"Saturday."

Vince turned and walked out of the lobby. Once he was out of sight Axel jetted it up the stairs to his room.

"SEAN!" He bellowed.

The aforementioned awoke with a start sitting up abruptly from his sleep. "What?! What?!"

"I was just hit on by a gay sponsor is what!"

"A… gay.. what? Dammit Axel, don't just wake me up with stories about gay people!"

But Sean's interest was soon piqued once Axel explained the scenario in full detail.

"This could be our lucky break." Sean said excitedly.

"Exactly."

"Okay, here's the plan: flirt back. Keep him interested and doing you favours."

"You think I didn't have that bit already figured out? But the trouble there is that this guy could do one of two things: make my life a success if I make him happy enough, or in the more likely case, make it a living hell. He's gonna want a lot Sean. He's over the top. If we want something from him, I doubt he'll let me get away with a kiss on the cheek if you get my drift."

"So sleep with him!"

Axel's expression was appalled.

"Dude, just kidding. In any case, we can show this guy a good time. We'll introduce him to loads of other handsome guys-

"Who will in no way match my good looks-

"Who will get the attention off of you and then we'll be golden. This Saturday we shall haul in the big guns."

Just then a knock came at their door. Axel went to answer it and when he did, a body collapsed into his arms.

"Roxas!"

"Sorry, I'm just a bit…" He trailed off.

"Roxas?!"

He was out. Axel didn't think twice before hefting the boy over his shoulder and rushing for the hospital on site. Sean was right behind him.

They arrived, and the nurse immediately provided a bed asking the boys to wait in the lounge while she checked Roxas over. A few moments later she came back to inform them that it was malnutrition.

"He's frail as an old man. He's much too thin. OF course he hasn't the energy to keep moving."

Axel felt his heart sink. He remembered the last time he'd seen Roxas pass out, and he'd done nothing about it.

"Sean, you don't have to stay. If you don't mind, I'd like to stick around."

"Sure man."

With that, Axel and Sean parted ways and the former went to sit at Roxas' bedside. The nurse brought him a book to occupy himself with in the meantime.

After an hour, the book became tedious, and Axel laid it in his lap letting his eyes fall on Roxas' sleeping face. He slowly reached out a hand and placed it over the blonde's gently and rested his head on the mattress. As he sat there he nodded off without much of a fight.

About an hour later Roxas awoke. He remembered seeing Axel and then everything else was black. He groaned. He'd passed out again, hadn't he? Just as he was about to bring his hand up to run through his hair he realized it was enveloped in someone else's. He looked down and felt his heart skip a beat when he realized that the hand belonged to Axel. He blushed madly wondering whether he should pull away. Pull away?! Was he crazy?! That was the LAST thing he wanted to do.

And so he settled for gently squeezing the red head's hand and staring longingly at his sleeping face. Sure he wanted to do something, sure he wanted to solidify the relationship, but after the harsh rejection he'd given Axel he thought it would be selfish and stupid to ask him for more. Although, having his hand in Axel's was reassuring.

"Axel…" Roxas whispered taking his other hand and running it over Axel's hair.

The young man stirred ever slightly and cracked open a green eye. He took a moment to focus and lifted his head groggily. His mind was still a bit muddled, but soon he remembered his hand. He quickly tried to pull it away thinking up a quick excuse, but was detained by the blonde's hand grasping it gently.

"I, uh, yeah, sorry about that. I just thought maybe you needed some support and I fell asleep, so-

Before he could finish, Roxas' lips were on his in a gentle kiss. It lasted only a moment before it ended and the blonde pulled back and quickly turned away to hide his red face.

"S..Sorry…" He managed to stutter.

"You know that bad day I had? And you know how I lost a job because July threw my boxers out the window? And you know how I was dumped by Charlie?"

Roxas felt his stomach clench. Surely this wouldn't end well.

Axel reached across to place a long hand on Roxas' hidden cheek to persuade him to face him. "None of it matters now."

And he dove in to entice Roxas into another kiss, deeper this time. It was passionate and full of long ignored yearning for the other.

"Ahem…"

Oh shit. The nurse.

The two broke apart like a plate breaking on a marble floor both crimson faced. The nurse clicked her heels and quickly prescribed that Roxas eat a healthy meal immediately and gave Axel a long list of things that should be included in his diet. She had just made Axel Roxas' official caretaker before he could protest.

"It's already been three times in the last two weeks that you've been brought here young man. I'm sick and tired of seeing you thinner each time, and having you ignore my strict orders to eat." She then faced Axel with burning eyes, "YOU take care of him!"

With that she clicked her heels again and ushered them out the door closing it slightly harder than was needed. The two young men looked at each other, shrugged in unison and headed for the exit. Once outside in the parking lot they finally met eyes and burst out laughing.

"Did you see the look on her face?" Roxas managed to say through his laughter.

"Oh yeah, priceless." Axel said as he calmed down. He stopped to catch his breath and sighed.

"So, shall we?" He said holding out a hand to Roxas. The blonde looked down at it and then up at Axel with a wide grin.

"Of course," and took the offered hand gladly. They walked back to the mansion and had dinner together. That night Roxas spent the night with Axel and Sean playing video games and having a good time. When they walked in hand in hand Sean just smirked knowingly claiming he'd seen it coming a mile away.

Sean was the first one asleep, and his light snoring could be heard over the mechanical music of Super Smash Bros. Roxas and Axel were pretty evenly matched, but Roxas ended it by eating Axel with Kirby and spitting out over the edge adding the last bit of damage necessary to defeat him.

"No fair." Axel pouted throwing down his controller.

"I won fair and square. Stop whining."

Axel gave Roxas a half-hearted glare and then sidled up next to him lacing a long arm around the blonde's slim shoulders. "But you know what would make me feel better?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. He didn't bother answering as he held Axel's face between his hands and attacked his lips mercilessly. Roxas eased Axel back onto the carpet taking full dominance. He let his hands roam over the red head's amazing chest and arms feeling the tight muscles there. He stifled his moans as Axel slipped a sneaky hand under his shirt exploring the skin with his warm hands. Roxas broke the kiss gasping. He shook his head holding his lover's wrist gently.

"Not now, not here." He whispered.

Axel understood, but he feigned a miserable sigh and rose dejectedly to head for his bed. Roxas frowned at his Axel's display and pounced on him forcing him to fall back onto the bed. He then resumed their kiss from before and brought his lips over Axel's ear where he nibbled and whispered hot breath over the sensitive skin. The young man beneath him sharply inhaled at this and barely contained his moans when Roxas was sucking at his neck, biting and kissing. He felt the blood going south, and just when he thought there was no turning back, Roxas stopped.

"Why are you stopping?!" Axel hissed slash whined.

"One, I don't want to go that far yet, and two because Sean is in the same room." Roxas whispered back.

Axel sighed defeated and manoeuvred Roxas to the bed to lay beside him and laid his head on the smaller boy's shoulder making himself comfortable with one arm over his stomach. Roxas smiled and ran his fingers through the fiery red hair. Soon Axel was asleep and Roxas let his hand rest over Axel's and fell asleep as well.


	14. The First Date

All Outta Luck

Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other related Square Enix material.

No point talking about what you don't know  
So Keep it up  
And on with the show!

* * *

_Long time no word, hey unc? _

_The modeling life ain't half bad. I'm liking it here and all, but getting a job isn't exactly what I'd hoped it would be. Did I mention that an idiot friend of mine threw all my boxers out my window, and I had to go retrieve them all? I don't think I did… And while I was trying to take my most embarrassing pair off a tree branch (you know those ones your sister gave me for my birthday last year with the smiling chili peppers on them… Yeah, those ones), a fanatic sees me, calls my name and I fell from the ledge of the building. Don't worry, nothing's broken, but now I look like something that was mistaken for a scratching post. I fell into a thorn bush… You can put the rest together from there. Thanks to this little event I missed out on my opportunity to get a job. Ironic, no? I had more than one offer too. _

_But all is not lost. Guess who shows up not even a week later? I must have a fairy godmother out there, because it was a sponsor looking to help out struggling models. He seems to like me… A lot. Something tells me he's not the straightest arrow in the quiver. However, that doesn't mean I'm going to let a perfectly good chance get away. If I can get this guy to stick with me, then I might be getting a job after all. And if I'm really good, then everyone around here who deserves the money will get it. This guy can't work alone, he's gotta have other higher ups working for the business. _

_Remember how I told you that I had a girlfriend? Yeah, well… I don't anymore. She dumped me the same day I fell into a thorn bush. That was one shitty day. I'll call you sometime to tell you all about it. I wasn't too hard-done by though. Charlie and I hardly had any time to become a real couple, and now that I think about it I can't imagine it would have ever worked out. _

_So I hope all is well with you. Get back to me when you have the time. _

_Talk to you soon  
Axel_

_P.S. I'm gay _

_P.S.S. Gay for Roxas, not the sponsor guy._

Axel leaned back in his chair and felt the weight of a chin on his shoulder.

"Whatcha writing?" Roxas asked with his arms folded over the back of the chair.

"An e-mail to my uncle is all."

Roxas read the last two lines and arched a brow. "You sure you wanna come out of the closet like that?"

"It's the only way I know how. I'm not gonna be apologetic about it. Besides, the old man's used to it this way. If I was ever wishy washy about it he'd probably threaten to come here to make sure I was alright."

"As long as you're sure I guess." Roxas said running a gentle hand through Axel's fiery hair earning an agreeable groan.

"You should do that more often."

"Sure thing."

Axel hit the send button and closed the internet window leaning back into Roxas' touch. He sighed and closed his eyes. Sean had left early for a date with Karla, so the boys had the room to themselves.

"You know something Axel…" Roxas mused, "Once I think about it, I realize that I don't know much about you."

"Mmhm?"

The boy continued stroking the wild locks with both hands standing straight to look down at his love's face.

"Yeah, I mean, I don't know where you're from, what your favorite food is, and heck, I don't think I even know what day your birthday is."

Axel cracked open an eye and smiled. "Arizona, I'm a stickler for Italian, French and Indian food, my birthday is July fifteenth. What about you?"

Roxas thought about it for a moment looking up at the ceiling and then down at Axel's now open emerald eyes, "So your birth stone is the ruby, huh? It works. And I'm Japanese, but I grew up in the States and my father was Canadian. That's why I have blue eyes and blonde hair. I'm a vegetarian, so I do like Indian food too. My birthday is December the ninth. My birthstone is the blue zircon."

"You have some kind of background. No wonder you're so gorgeous. I guess the Japanese in your blood is what made you so slight."

Roxas nodded with a blush creeping over his cheeks and quickly changed the direction of the conversation with a question of his own. "What about your family background?"

"Well, my folks passed away when I was just a kid. My uncle's my godfather, so he raised me. My mother was Irish and my dad was some kind of European."

Roxas stopped playing with Axel's hair and met his eyes. "Sorry… I didn't think…"

"Don't worry about it. I've come to terms with it already. Besides, my uncle was a great dad to me. I had a good childhood. Its fine, keep asking me questions if you like."

Roxas nodded and resumed running his hands through his love's hair. "Did your mom have red hair too?"

"She was as Irish as they come. Yeah, red hair and green eyes, that's where I get it from."

"Were your parents tall?"

"My mum was average, but dad was a giant. You know, I have a picture with me," Axel stood from the chair taking Roxas' hand and dragging him over to the bed. He opened the bed side drawer taking out a notebook and opened the cover to find a photograph. He took it out and handed it to Roxas. The boy took it gently, careful not to smudge it with his fingers, and smiled.

"You guys make a nice family. You're all way too good looking. How old are you there?"

"I was eight at the time," Axel said wrapping his arms around Roxas' waist and resting his chin on the blonde's shoulder. He looked down at his eight-year-old self hanging supported between his parents mid-swing. He had a huge smile on his face only rivaled by those of his parents.

"Ah, those were good times," He paused and nuzzled Roxas, "You'll have to show me a picture of your family one of these days."

The blonde replaced the photo in the notebook and closed the cover setting it aside.

"I will. But today we have the day off… Let's do something."

"You asking me on a date?"

"Sure am."

Axel grinned sitting up and turning Roxas to face him. "Where shall we go?"

"How about we go to the beach for the afternoon, get lunch at a café and then catch a movie?" Roxas suggested with a smile.

"Sure, but first…" Axel leaned in slowly cupping one side of Roxas' face and met his lips with a ghost of a kiss. Roxas' eyes fluttered closed and he sighed at the warm breath over his face. The blonde slowly lay back on the bed and Axel followed him down pressing their lips together gently once finishing their decent. Roxas ran his fingers over the sensitive skin of Axel's neck occasionally massaging as the kiss deepened ever slightly. Axel moved his long hands over the smaller boy's toned arms and up through his messy blonde hair. Slowly they pulled apart and met gazes smiling together.

"Can we go now?" Roxas asked smirking.

"Roxy, I'm hurt. You can't tell me you didn't enjoy that."

Roxas rolled his eyes and pushed Axel off himself playfully. "I loved every moment, but I'll love it more when we're at the beach and I have an excuse to see you half naked."

Axel flashed his trademark smirk. "So there is a bit of a devil side to you after all."

"You'd be surprised."

"I suggest we leave before I change my mind and decide that the bed is a perfectly good place to be naked with you."

Roxas smacked Axle upside the head and half-glared.

"Okay, okay, the beach it is."

* * *

Cold, too cold, WAY TOO COLD! There was no way Axel was diving into icy cold water this early in the day.

Roxas waved at him from the water. "Come on you wuss! The water's fine."

Axel still looked like he'd been attacked by a gang of angry cats, but at least the cuts were healing nicely. And it was just on his forearms where the real damage could be seen. He had managed to block his face for the most part, and the cuts left there looked a lot better now. Plus, Roxas had to admit that the guy had one helluva a body to show off: lean, muscular, amazing pectorals and arms. He had to force his eyes to look up at Axel's face before he started to drool.

"Forget it. It's too damn cold." The red head complained from the beach.

"Once you get in its fine!" Roxas called back splashing around like a happy fish.

"You have fun. I'm staying where it's hot and dry." With that Axel sat his butt down in the sand with no intention of going anywhere near the water. He watched as Roxas waded out of the water until he was towering over him in all his shirtless glory.

"You're hot when you're wet and shirtless." Axel said with a smirk.

"And you could be too if you'd just suck it up and come in."

"What are you talking about? I am hot, and I am shirtless. Don't act like you haven't been staring from the second I took my shirt off."

Roxas sputtered a little and then did a 180 on his heel and ran back into the water purposely splashing as he went. The plan succeeded as the water hit Axel point blank.

"Arg! Fucking cold water!" He swore and watched as Roxas turned around making faces at him. "That's it! You asked for it!" And Axel steeled himself and charged in after the blonde. Roxas squeaked and swam as fast as he could in the opposite direction occasionally stopping to splash Axel in the face to blind him and swim away again. Eventually Axel caught up and the two had a wicked water war using all splashing methods they could come up with and managing to half drown each other in the most creative of ways. They ended up rough housing in the water: catching each other in playful head locks with the objective of dunking the other under water. Eventually the game wound down to hiding behind a buoy and having a passionate make-out session until a seagull arrived and started screeching at them for being too close to her nest. The boys broke apart unwillingly and returned to the sandy beach to dry off and relax a while before changing into their dry clothes and heading for a little café by the docks.

"It's such a beautiful day, isn't it?" Axel mused and Roxas couldn't help but feel himself fall just a little further for the red head. Something about his appreciating something as simple as the good weather was somehow special. Roxas felt that it revealed a part of Axel's good-nature.

"Yeah, it really is," Roxas replied taking Axel's hand in his and swinging it between them. "And since you're here it's just that much better."

Axel didn't turn to face Roxas as he chuckled a little out of embarrassment and a little out of flattery. He felt his face flush and tried desperately to fight it down. Roxas laughed then noticed a crêpe café just across the road and led Axel excitedly.

"I forgot to mention that I love chocolate crêpes this morning." The blonde said happily.

"This one's on me."

Once inside and sat down, Axel ordered a strawberry milkshake and Roxas ordered chocolate of course. They each ordered a chocolate crêpe and nearly died and went to heaven.

One thing Axel loved about cafés was how easy it was to talk when inside. Something about the casual atmosphere was liberating and fun. He remembered the times when he and his uncle would go to a café in Arizona every so often and they'd talk about everything and nothing. Axel used to babble on about his favorite comic characters and his uncle would sit and listen with genuine interest. Though with Roxas it was a bit different; Roxas just made him want to smile like an idiot without pause. His face even hurt from smiling so much. The boys were ceaselessly laughing as they joked together. Axel couldn't have hoped for a better date.

There was a little something Roxas liked to call "the click", and he'd never found it as readily as he had now with Axel. "The click" was a term he used for feeling a connection with someone; a connection that indicated an easy friendship or compatibility of personalities. It used to be a lot easier when he was younger, but as he grew up he found that he "clicked" less and less with the people around him. Now that he was with Axel he felt "the click" come naturally. Axel could make him laugh until he couldn't breathe, and in turn Axel got Roxas' sense of humor and apparently was just as amused.

Once Axel caught his breath he reached over the table and laid it over Roxas' own. They didn't say anything because they really didn't need to. Somehow just sitting there with the warmth of each other's presence was worth everything they could have said about it. Axel's eyes were soft, and Roxas felt himself turning crimson with the smoldering stare. However, he was happy.

"Do you mind?" An older lady's voice came from a table across from them. "That's just too much public display."

Axel forced a small smile keeping his hand on Roxas' and turned towards the voice. "Sorry ma'am, but I don't imagine this has anything to do with you. We're not being offensive in any way, so I'd appreciate it if you just turned around and focused on your food."

"Well I never!" The woman huffed slamming a few dollar bills on the table and left the café in a fit. Roxas met Axel's eyes with a tortured look.

"Don't let her get under your skin. What do you say we catch that movie?"

Roxas nodded and the two paid the bill and hailed a cab to take them to the nearest movie theater.

* * *

"Axel, I love you, but I don't love you THAT much…"

"C'mon! It's TMNT in CG! You can't say no to that!"

"They are turtles that fight crime that were raised by a ninja rat. Do you really expect me to take them seriously?"

"Yes."

Roxas heaved and sigh and slouched in defeat. "Fine… But you're paying."

"Wouldn't have it any other way," And with that Axel snatched up Roxas hand and dragged him to buy the tickets, then t get pop-corn and soda, and then off to the movie theater. Much to Roxas' shock he actually liked the movie.

When the boys came out they were comparing which characters they liked and who they related to.

"I liked Donatello," Roxas said, "I mean, aside from Mikey being hilarious, I just liked how Donatello was the nerd."

"Yeah, Donnie's pretty cool. I personally like Rafael and Leonardo."

"What about Michael?"

"He's an automatic thumbs-up that goes without saying. And Casey is pretty awesome too."

Roxas laughed. "'You look like a metal turtle', I loved that line."

"Ah Rafael, why do your disguises always blow?" Axel asked rhetorically.

The boys left the theater in high-spirits and arrived at the mansion satisfied from their day.

"You gonna spend the night again?" Axel asked hopefully.

"How about we hang out in your room for the first part of the night to play Super Smash Bros with Sean and DJ," Roxas suggested.

"And the second part of the night…?"

Roxas paused with his face turning bright red. "Um… Spend it in my room? Where we have some privacy?"

Axel grinned and pecked his love on the lips holding him close. "As long as that's the way you want it, I'm good."

"But Axel, I'm not ready for anything serious yet, you know?" Roxas said with his eyes trained on Axel's pleadingly.

"Roxas, let me get one thing straight with you: I would _never _do anything to hurt you or betray you. I promise that you're the one who calls all the shots."

"Thanks," the blonde said relaxing and standing on his toes to reach his love's lips in another lingering kiss.

"Shall we?" Axel asked after what seemed like an eternity of lip-locking.

"Yeah."

And that night the boys slept cuddling each other.

* * *

:D


	15. Clearing Things Up

All Outta Luck

Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I don't own KH or any related material.

AN to "doyoureallyneedtoknow?" lol thanks for your comments. I really appreciate them. And maybe a nickname would be nice to know you by. It's a lot shorter than your screen name at least. . Again: Thanks for your support!!!

* * *

Downtown LA, in a quaint coffee shop in a quieter part of the city, Axel and the gang sat at a round table enjoying another day off. The waiter came over with a broad smile and bright shining blue eyes. "I'm Demyx, at your service. What can I do you for?" He asked brightly taking a pen and notepad out of his apron.

"Irish coffee," said Axel.

"Iced cappuccino please," ordered Roxas.

"Chocolate milk!" Charlie ordered.

"I'll have a chai please." July said.

"Irish coffee for both of us, if you don't mind." Sean said ordering for he and DJ.

"An espresso for me, single shot," Karla ordered.

The waiter quickly jotted everything down and then turned over his shoulder shouting out the orders. "You got all that Zexy?"

"Yes Dem-ass, I do. Now shut up and help me make them all."

"Hey, be polite in front of customers!" The waiter scolded and bowed to Axel's table with a small smile and a nervous chuckle. "He's never in a good mood in the mornings, you'll have to forgive him."

"I heard that."

"Oh hush up and get to work, I'll be right there to help you." With that Demyx bowed once more and headed over to the periwinkle-haired man behind the counter.

The door to the shop opened causing the bells to ring, and two girls walked in with happy greetings.

"Hey Demyx!" The sandy-haired girl greeted gaily with a wide wave, "Good morning Zexion!"

The latter grumbled back a half-hearted hello and continued making the orders.

"You had a late night again, huh?" The shorter one with black eyes, brown skin and black hair asked a little concerned.

Demyx turned bright red and rushed to keep help Zexion prepare the orders. The two girls laughed and took a seat at a chair by the window ordering "the usual".

Roxas was smiling at the display. This coffee shop was a place for friends, he could tell. It was comfortable, had an easy-going atmosphere and was fun. It was no wonder that the shop owners had close relationships with their customers.

"Hey guys, " DJ said unexpectedly and everyone looked over at him, "I have some news."

Everyone was silent with their attention on their friend.

He paused and looked up with a half-smile. "I actually got signed."

Cheers and whoops came from around the table. Sean slung his arm over Dj's shoulders chummily and shook him from side to side. "That's great! Why the long face then?"

"Well, I'm happy I go the break, but I was hoping that it would've been with everybody. I was thinking of turning the offer down and waiting, but Farrar insisted that these opportunities don't knock too often."

"Farrar was right, if you had turned the offer down we'd all have to clock you for it. You deserve the cut Deej, don't worry about us." July said with a smile.

"You can send us post cards now," Charlie said enthusiastically.

All the celebration reminded Roxas of one important detail he'd forgotten to mention to Axel as well. He'd have to save it for a time when they weren't in front of everyone.

"Here're your orders," Demyx said putting everything down in front of the right person without missing a beat.

"Bring on a beer for our friend. He's just made his debut." Axel said motioning a hand towards DJ with his other arm hanging over Roxas' shoulders. "Sure thing! What's the debut about if it's not too much to ask?"

"He got signed with a modelling agency," Roxas said gleefully, "He's on his way to making a living for himself."

"Well good on you! I'll bring you the beer on the house!" With that he turned quickly heading for the counter. Zexion sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes. Why was Demyx so damn friendly? He couldn't help it if he wanted the gorgeous idiot all to himself.

The friends planned a going away party and scheduled it for that evening. It was Saturday after all and that meant that Axel could take Vincente out with all the friends he had, and hopefully bring them all into the man's good graces.

What Roxas hadn't told Axel was that he had a job, and he needed to go to Japan for a couple weeks to make a shoot for next year's calendar, and the shoot was going t be divided with some other models, hence the two weeks time. Roxas didn't really want to go without Axel, but taking him wasn't an option. In order to keep his opportunities open, Axel needed to stay behind with Farrar. Not long ago, Farrar had talked about having another shoot with Axel, now that his skin had healed up nicely. In fact, he was considering a photo shoot with some of the more dedicated models, the rest of the gang being among these names. Roxas already had his contract, and he hadn't had a job for a while due to competition, but with the request for his presence in Japan, he knew that his rates would go up and he'd probably be pulled all over the world for magazines and the like. Of course, his contract was with Farrar's modelling agency, and he still had another two years with them. After that he was free to go where ever he pleased.

Also, thanks to Axel constantly hackling him, Roxas was eating better. He hadn't gained much weight yet, but he habitually found himself to be hungrier. Axel had introduced him to some of the finer things of cuisine, and now he could never turn back.

Roxas looked up at Axel's smiling face next to him and felt his heart leap. He placed his hand over the one hanging off his shoulder and the smiling green eyes met his. Of course there was still the question of Charlie that had Roxas a little concerned. Did Axel still care for her as more than a friend? He had been swept away by his emotions before, but now he found all the questions coming back to him. He remembered once thinking that for sure Axel had to be a player, but seeing him now, he couldn't bring himself to think so anymore. Axel had been nothing but doting, adoring and devoted. Although it may not have seemed like it when first meeting the red head, he was a loyal romantic. Once his heart was entrusted to someone, he gave it everything he had to keep the person he cared for happy. Roxas blushed as Axel brushed his lips over his forehead, and the blonde jokingly swatted him away with a weak protest.

"I'm glad you two finally got together. It took you long enough." Karla said sipping at her espresso. No matter which way you swung, be you boy or girl, Karla was flat out hot. Her hair fell in ebony waves around her tanned face, her lips were full and slick with lip-gloss, her eyes were a hypnotizing dark-chocolate color and she was well endowed to put it lightly. It was a wonder she hadn't yet been signed herself. Although, she and Sean had practically become inseparable, and it would be to no one's surprise that either might only take an offer as long as the other was signed as well.

"I knew all your fighting was just unrelieved sexual tension." Sean said with a smirk and earned a plastic saltshaker in the face from Roxas. The blonde blushed madly.

"It's not like that guys," Axel defended with a laugh, "At least, not yet." He winked and the group burst out into catcalls, whistles and guffaws of laughter.

"This is not a subject to bring to any table!" July shouted indignantly. "And much less in front of Charlie."

"That's another crisis we're waiting to see solved." DJ muttered.

"What did you say?" July seethed.

"Nothing, nothing. You're just hearing things. But you still need to tell-

July kicked DJ under the table stopping him mid-sentence, and once more for good measure. He quietly hung his head over his drink withholding the cry in his throat. He grimaced across the table at July whose attention was conveniently diverted to Charlie sitting next to her.

The rest of the gang sweat dropped and resumed their conversations to restore the previous mood.

Axel felt Roxas' thumb moving over his hand and smiled. They'd only been together a short while, and they still had much to learn about each other, but it felt like things had started out pretty well so far. Although Axel still had his own questions. Why had Roxas turned him down, and then turned around and been the one to confess? Of course there was the obvious reason: He was just that amazing. But moving his ego aside, Axel was curious. Roxas seemed almost disgusted when he'd first confessed, and then he'd avoided him relentlessly, they'd fought, and they never had talked about why. These were things he still needed to know.

"We need a cake for tonight!" Charlie chirped.

"Huh? But it's not my birthday." DJ said a mite confused.

"But all good celebrations need cakes." The girl explained with a smile.

"I agree! Cake is definitely a go." Sean agreed.

"It's fattening, but on this occasion I think we can all make an exception, right?" Karla sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

"Alrighty then. Ice-cream Oreo cake maybe?" July suggested hopefully.

Shouts of approval came from the whole table as everyone agreed.

"Hey Demyx," Axel called, now well acquainted with the waiter, "Could we get our bill?"

"Separate for all of you, or as one?"

"Its on me."

Demyx nodded and proceeded to add up the bill.

Soon Axel had paid and left a generous tip. As the group was walking out, the two girls who had come in earlier stopped them.

"Sorry, just wanted to congratulate you. You all sounded really happy over there, and we couldn't help over-hearing." The sandy-haired one said with a grin.

"Thanks," DJ said.

"Yeah, we were starting to wish that we could join you." The shorter one with black eyes said with a shy laugh.

"You should have," Sean said enthusiastically. "Next time, don't hesitate."

"Okay, thanks." She answered.

"By the way, I think I know you," the same girl said to Roxas, "Well, your face anyway. You're a model, aren't you?"

The blonde nodded and blushed as he noticed her eyes on his and Axel's hands interlaced.

"You two make one heck of a couple. Anyway, sorry to keep you, do your best out there."

"Thanks, and we'll be seeing you again, I'm sure."

"We'll be here."

"And we will too!" Demyx called from behind the counter. Now Zexion was smiling too.

"Come back soon." He said at last. Having the gang in the shop proved to make things a little more exciting.

"Sure thing. Have a nice day all," July said walking out behind everyone as they turned and waved one last time.

* * *

"My life has been spent avoiding people who wanted more from me than I was prepared to give. " Roxas explained with Axel's head in his lap under a shady tree back at the manor grounds.

"What do you mean exactly?" The red head questioned looking up at his loved one.

"I was always afraid because it seemed that everyone I ran into wanted more than friendship with me. Boys and girls alike, the attention was nice, but friends were hard to come by."

"Wasn't there anyone out there who you managed to be friends with?" Axel asked trying to ignore the guilt creeping up on him.

"Now that I think about it, I did have a few friends. One of my closest was Sora in junior high. It's been a long time since I've been in touch with him. Oh, and Kairi and Riku. I remember Namine too, but we went out for a while and I decided that I wasn't interested in her that way. She took it gracefully, that's the kind of person she was. She never complained, but I hope that she's found someone else."

And then everyone else's names flooded his mind: Hayner, Pence, Olette too.

"It sounds like you had quite a few friends there. How many proposals did you get anyway?"

Roxas groaned as he remembered countless confessions from too many faces with names he couldn't remember, and sometimes the other way around.

"Too many to remember. And most guys would gloat about this, but it got to a point where I just didn't want to meet people anymore. Then, I was discovered by Farrar at a coffee shop where I worked part-time when I was sixteen, and now, three years later, here I am. My contract with them ends in two years. After that, I have many other things I want to do."

"So what exactly changed your mind about me?" Axel asked finally.

Roxas had to think about it for a moment before replying, "You're a special case I suppose. I was attracted to you the moment I saw you in Arizona as you were boarding the plane, but I wasn't used to the feeling. I'd always been attracted to girls up to that point, but I'm sure it's obvious that I have nothing against this kind of relationship." He said smiling down at Axel in his lap and continued. "I convinced myself that I wasn't looking for anything, and the day you confessed I was shocked. I didn't know how to react, so I walked away. It was cowardly of me, but I wasn't sure about how I felt. After it soaked in, I just felt awkward around you because I didn't like how flustered I got when you were around. So I avoided you. And I'm sorry for that."

Axel said nothing encouraging Roxas to continue.

"In the end I realized that I liked you. When I found out you and Charlie were dating I admit I was jealous. I also felt a little betrayed since I had hoped that I could take you up on your offer."

"About that…"

"Let me finish, and then you can tell me everything, alright?"

Axel nodded and listened in silence. Roxas couldn't help but realize how gorgeous Axel was. The shade from the tree cast shadows and light on his glowing skin and enhanced his natural aesthetic. The blonde paused in his distraction and leaned over touching his forehead to Axel's gently.

"You're gorgeous Axel." He whispered.

For the first time, Roxas saw Axel's face go the color of his hair. Green eyes widened and soon relaxed. He color receded and he smirked to cover his embarrassment. "I knew that had something to do with it."

"Don't ruin the moment. I mean it Axel, you really are gorgeous. Its not a compliment I throw out to anyone."

The red head's smirk was replaced with a gentle smile. "Thanks, and for the record, you are too."

Roxas smiled and sat back up. "As I got to know you a little more with our fights, I realized that I was just angry at you for not waiting for me. It was selfish of me, but that was how I felt. I took it out on you by being a prick. The way you could always see the brighter side of things, like when we got stuck under the clothes and hangers made me realize that I wanted that warmth. I decided that being friends was fine as long as I could still be around you.

In any case, the day you fell into the thorn bush and came to my room later, I realized I was falling for you. When you fell asleep on my bed, I nearly… I was this close to… I almost kissed you. But I managed to stop myself. I wanted to support you, and not take advantage while you were down."

Roxas sighed and smiled. "And then that day in the nursery I couldn't take it anymore."

Axel chuckled and cupped Roxas' right cheek with his hand. "My relationship with Charlie was unexpected. She kissed me at a dance, and because I was still confused about you and maybe a little miffed, I took my chances. Now that I think back on it, I think Charlie realized this, and that's why she ended things with me so soon. She didn't pick the best day, but that's her for you.

But hear me out, I never stopped caring about you. Every time I had a bad run after we managed to put our differences aside, it was you I always wanted to go to. You were the one I wanted to trust."

Axel felt his cheeks tinge a little. He never knew he could be such a sap. This was a novelty for him.

"I noticed you that first day as well, when you were greeting everyone before the flight out of Arizona, but I think I was in the same position you were. I wasn't really thinking about a relationship with another guy at the time. But once we started hanging out I realized that I always wanted you around. Unlike the way I felt about Sean, like a close friend, I felt attracted to you. You were mysterious and straight-faced most of the time, so I was intrigued. I wanted to get to know you, and eventually I knew I wanted more than your hand in friendship."

"So you're over Charlie?" Roxas had to confirm.

"I never was really into her from the start. I see her like the sister I never had. I mean, we could even pass for siblings."

Roxas nodded his agreement.

"And you're okay with 'us'?" Axel asked.

"No doubt about it. I have no regrets."

"Good."

With that Axel sat up abruptly and pounced on Roxas so he was lying back in the long grass with Axel kissing him passionately. The blonde felt the blush in his cheeks when the red head groaned into his mouth and whispered his name. A light breeze came fluttering by ruffling both boy's clothes and hair comfortably. Axel's hand roamed along Roxas' arms and ghosted over his neck and down to his chest, then rested on his shoulders. Roxas let his own hands explore his love's exposed arms, transferred to his back and held Axel to him tightly.

Roxas broke the kiss and trailed butterfly kissed along Axel's jaw-line and down his neck. A pleased sigh was earned as Roas nipped at his love's collarbone. Axel had to concentrate every fiber in his body not to let himself collapse onto the boy below him. He felt his elbows weaken with the pleasure of Roxas' lips on his exposed skin and nearly keened when a cool hand snuck its way under the front of his shirt exploring the tight skin there.

"Roxas…" Axel breathed and pulled away with what will power he had left. "If you keep this up, I'm not going to be able to hold back."

The blonde smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I got a little bit ahead of myself."

Axel sat with his back resting on the tree and patted his legs inviting Roxas to lay there. "Its my turn to do you the favor."

Roxas rose to his knees and brushed a ghost of a kiss over Axel's lips whispering: "I think I love you." And lay his head in Axel's lap closing his eyes. The red head nearly passed out. He was shocked, flustered, confused and overall not used to being puddy in anyone's hands. But Roxas could handle him like no other had done before.

"Roxas, I think I love you too." He whispered back and intertwined his finger's with the smaller boy's, closed his eyes and dozed off to the sound of the light breeze.


	16. Rising Tensions

All Outta Luck  
Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Kingdom Hearts or Square Enix related.

* * *

Bars- One of man's inventions to justify drunken convention. Roxas didn't like crowds to begin with, and much less crowds of rowdy drunkards. He hated the stench of alcohol that wafted through the air and the slurred conversation that resounded throughout the building. But more than the prior, the one thing that was really getting on his nerves, was Vince. The man was all over Axel, pretending to be too drunk to know any better. He would reach out and touch his hair(and Axel would scoot away or excuse himself to get another drink), he would lay his arm across Axel's shoulders(and Axel would shrug him off playfully only to be caught again). Roxas could see the vein in his love's temple becoming more prominent with each of Vince's poorly disguised advances. "So," Axel said for the umpteenth time, "These are some of my friends who are also top models looking for some help. Maybe you could interview a few of them?" He prodded gently. Roxas felt a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips at the hopeful glow in his eyes. Perhaps it was a little alcohol too.  
"Oh, of course! Any friend of yours is my friend too, Axel." Vince slurred in his Spanish accent. Roxas saw the forced smile on Axel's face and sympathized from across the table. Briefly their eyes met and they shared the same thought: _This guy's trouble._

Sean then came to the rescue. "Yeah! This is Karla and she's looking for a sponsor to get her off the ground. She's a hard worker, and I'm not making that up. You can ask any of the people she works with." Beside him, Karla was blushing with a wide smile on her face.

"Oh, yes, of course. Of course," Vince said dismissively. Sean frowned and turned to Karla; they shrugged together.

"You know Axel, I wouldn't mind sponsoring you at all. You have much potential, you know. Yes, I see great things for you my friend. You're absolutely gorgeous, so it shouldn't be a problem to get you a permanent job…." There was something else he wanted to say, Roxas could see it in his eyes. There was a catch, a big catch.

The red head forced a laugh. "Thanks, but I think I my potential is far surpassed by some of the people I know."

_Liar,_ Roxas thought with a small smirk. Axel could never be humble and mean it.

Vince's expression slackened as he forced Axel's gaze to meet his own. Roxas wanted to gag at how sickeningly smoldering it was. "I doubt that very much." And then he dropped the mother bomb. He put his hand over Axel's. Right there on the table where everyone could see. Roxas noticed the color flooding into his love's face, and he knew for a fact that it wasn't shyness. Before Axel could blow up, Roxas intervened.

"Axel, love," he choked the word out, "Why don't you come sit by me? I've missed having you next to me." He forced out each word, all too aware of how ridiculous he sounded, but if it was for Axel's sake, he could put up with the shame. Maybe.

Roxas watched as Axel suppressed a sigh of relief. "If you'll excuse me," He said politely and moved before Vince could protest. He switched to the booth seat where Roxas sat and plopped down next to him. Roxas smiled as he felt the lean muscular arm gently slide over his shoulders. On instinct, he leaned into Axel's warmth and held his hand on the table.

Vince sat with his mouth hanging open. "Oh, you are together, yes?"

Axel gave a short nod and a proud smile. "He decided he could put up with me. Not everyday that happens."

"Ah yes, well…" He stood, "I will find your friends and talk to them about being sponsored then." His tones weren't nearly as friendly as they had been. His eyes no longer smiled. Roxas could see the tensed muscles under his shirt as he made his way to the bar stiffly.

The boys met each other's eyes and laughed quietly together.

"We're quite a team," Axel said.

"Yeah, we are," Roxas paused, "but I have a bad feeling about him."

"Worried I'll run off with him?" Axel said smirking crookedly.

The first instinct Roxas had was to punch him in the arm and glare at him playfully, but what happened was unexpected even for himself. He reached Axel's exposed neck with his lips, brushing the skin gently before biting down. Hard. The red head growled in the back of his throat throwing his head back against the seat with his teeth clenched. Roxas released his hold and kissed the bruised spot gently before pulling away using a hand to turn Axel's face to his own.

"No."

The emerald eyes were glimmering with passion. Roxas examined the slightly pink tinge in Axel's cheeks, and the extra shine in his eyes. He hadn't had too much to drink, but he'd drunk enough to be tipsy. He was more emotional this way. Roxas couldn't explain his sudden desire to take advantage of his boyfriend's vulnerable disposition. It was a fire that seemed to consume him from the inside out.

Across the room, Vince watched through dark envious eyes as the short blonde boy pulled Axel out of the booth and out the door of the bar, leaving the money for their drinks before they left. He would have Axel if it was the last thing he did. Vincente smirked to himself impishly. He had pull, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to use it. Lust flared in his eyes as he took a sip of his martini, licking his lips of the salt that decorated the rim of the glass. He imagined this must be what Axel might taste like.

A/N-  
Sorry for the short chapter. Funny thing is that I hadn't intended for it to be so short, but the chapter flowed perfectly, and the end just ran into a perfectly clean cut, so I decided to end it there for now. Don't worry, the next chapter will semi explain what happened between Roxas and Axel during the night. Sorry, no lemons here my friends. Look elsewhere. TTFN


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